Korea, US to restart defense cost-sharing talks

Jeong Eun-bo, right, Korea's chief negotiator for the Special Measures Agreement, will sit down with his U.S. counterpart James DeHart in Los Angeles for negotiation talks on Tuesday and Wednesday. / Korea Times file

By Kang Seung-woo

Korea and the United States will resume talks, Tuesday, over how to share the costs of maintaining American troops here, with the two sides still remaining far apart over the issue.

The upcoming negotiations, the seventh of their kind since September 2019, carries extra weight for Seoul as it is seeking at least a partial agreement regarding the potential furlough of Korean workers at U.S. military bases across the Korean Peninsula, if not a comprehensive deal.

Since 1991, Korea has partially borne the cost of stationing the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) under the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) for Korean civilians hired by the USFK; the construction of military facilities to maintain the allies' readiness; the combined defense improvement project; and other logistical support.

Jeong Eun-bo, Korea's chief negotiator for the SMA, flew to Los Angeles, Monday, where he will sit down with his U.S. counterpart James DeHart for two days starting Tuesday local time. The SMA determines the amount of money Korea will contribute toward the costs for the USFK.

The seventh round of talks come after an “unusual” two-month hiatus, which indicates Seoul and Washington have barely narrowed their differences on how much to increase South Korea's share. Since September, bilateral talks had been held on a monthly basis.

The biggest sticking point in the negotiations is U.S. President Donald Trump who has said he wants Korea to pay nearly $5 billion (6 trillion won) annually ― a fivefold increase from the amount paid last year.

However, due to strong opposition from Korea, the U.S. is said to have lowered its initial demand by $1 billion, an amount the Korean government still believes is unreasonable. The U.S. has demanded the deal should cover extra costs, such as those for rotations of American troops to the peninsula, but Korea insists that the negotiations should proceed within the existing SMA framework to come up with a fair and equitable amount.

In order to press the Korean government, the U.S. is now leveraging the 9,000 Koreans it employs. On Feb. 27, the USFK issued a 30-day notice of its decision to commence an administrative furlough that will begin on April 1 if an agreement is not made. Other than mission-critical personnel, some 5,800 people are expected to be put on unpaid leave.

Considering the seriousness of the wage issue, the Korean government suggested the following day that the allies conclude a deal on personnel expenditures first, which was rejected by the U.S. government.

Ahead of the talks, an official of the USFK Korean Employees Union said the workers have not yet been informed which of them are considered mission-critical and which are not.

“But there is no one who is not mission-critical. The USFK said the critical ones will be those engaged in work related to sanitation, safety and other work required for the USFK's missions, but all the 9,000 employees are engaged in such work,” the official was quoted as saying by local media.