Defense cost-sharing deal
First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun, right, and Rob Rapson, charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, bump arms at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul after signing a defense cost-sharing deal, Thursday. Under the Special Measures Agreement, South Korea will pay 1.183 trillion won ($1.05 billion) this year for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). The two sides had not reached a deal since September 2019 due to former U.S. President Donald Trump's demand for fivefold funding increase from Korea, but a deal was made in March after the Joe Biden administration was launched. Yonhap