By Jun Ji-hye
The National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on Tuesday approved a motion to ratify a new defense cost-sharing pact signed between South Korea and the United States in January.
Lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy plan to hold the plenary session today and conduct a vote by the full body.
Once approved, the Seoul government will pay 920 billion won ($884 million) this year. The new pact, which will be applied for the next five years, also stipulates that the amount paid reflect the consumer price index (CPI), and increase Seoul's cost-sharing every year by a maximum of 4 percent.
In January, the two nations renewed the Special Measure Agreement (SMA) to share the financial burden to keep some 28,500 U.S. soldiers on guard against North Korean threats here. But since the motion was submitted to the Assembly, it has been pending due to opposing opinions between the rival parties.
The 24-member committee reached a tentative consensus at Monday's meeting.
The two allies signed their first SMA in 1991, and the deal has been renewed intermittently since.
The previous SMA expired at the end of 2013.
Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye
The National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on Tuesday approved a motion to ratify a new defense cost-sharing pact signed between South Korea and the United States in January.
Lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy plan to hold the plenary session today and conduct a vote by the full body.
Once approved, the Seoul government will pay 920 billion won ($884 million) this year. The new pact, which will be applied for the next five years, also stipulates that the amount paid reflect the consumer price index (CPI), and increase Seoul's cost-sharing every year by a maximum of 4 percent.
In January, the two nations renewed the Special Measure Agreement (SMA) to share the financial burden to keep some 28,500 U.S. soldiers on guard against North Korean threats here. But since the motion was submitted to the Assembly, it has been pending due to opposing opinions between the rival parties.
The 24-member committee reached a tentative consensus at Monday's meeting.
The two allies signed their first SMA in 1991, and the deal has been renewed intermittently since.
The previous SMA expired at the end of 2013.
Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye
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