Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
Media war intensifies over SMA negotiations
Ambassador Jeong Eun-bo, Korean representative for the Korea-U.S. Special Measures Agreement (SMA) negotiations, gives a briefing at the foreign ministry headquarters in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
By Yi Whan-woo
By Yi Whan-woo
South Korea and the United States are using the media to push their respective arguments on splitting the costs of the U.S. military presence in the South.
The moves come after the two sides failed to strike a deal in their latest round of defense cost-sharing talks, Wednesday.
With the Dec. 31 deadline approaching, this means the two allies will have to continue their negotiations in January after the holiday season ends.
Against this backdrop, the top negotiator of each side ― Jeong Eun-bo of South Korea and James DeHart of the U.S. ― held separate press meetings and explained how the two countries remain poles apart in the negotiations.
Jeong insisted the decades-long framework for the cost-sharing pact, known as the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), should be maintained and that South Korea is only responsible for bearing costs for the 28,500 American troops stationed here, not abroad.
DeHart said the current SMA framework can be changed and that South Korea's financial burden should be increased to cover U.S. defense expenses, not only on the Korean Peninsula but also outside the region because they are “all about” defense of the South.
“We cannot accept the defense-cost sharing for American troops stationed abroad,” Jeong said during a press briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in downtown Seoul, Thursday. “We strongly adhere to our principled stance that the SMA framework, which has been in place for 28 years, must be maintained.”
The existing SMA framework is the “base point of an acceptable range,” Jeong added, noting this is where Seoul “holds views” with Washington which wants to create a new clause in the SMA to expand the scope of South Korea's coverage.
Although the U.S. toned down its demands in this week's talks, it stirred up controversy last month when it demanded South Korea increase its share to $5 billion, up from the current $870 million.
The U.S. demand promoted anti-U.S. rallies and escalated concerns over a rift in the alliance.
Citing this week's talks, Jeong refused to give details on South Korea's counterproposal.
He still confirmed South Korea has been addressing its “contribution to the alliance” and that it has been “asking for a fair and objective assessment on that.”
During a separate press meeting at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Wednesday, DeHart said $5 billion is “not a number that we are currently focused on in the negotiations.”
James DeHart, U.S. chief negotiator in the cost-sharing talks, speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Embassy in central Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
He added, "The figure will be different from our initial proposal.”
He noted Seoul's weapons purchases from the U.S. are an "important consideration" for Washington in the context of the negotiations.
Regardless, he said it is “reasonable” for South Korea to shoulder some of the costs for military operations that take place off the peninsula.
“I think it's a very appropriate discussion to have with the ROK whether they are willing to share in the large cost of transporting American service personnel on and off the peninsula and to be equipped to operate on the peninsula and to be trained to operate on the peninsula,” he said.
For this reason, he cited a need for changing the SMA.
“It was created as a special measure and if we agree together to change, it's perfectly fine to do so. It's not unprecedented to make changes if both parties can both agree,” he said.
Previous versions of the SMA were usually negotiated every five years, but the U.S. demanded to limit the term to only one year for the 2019 agreement.
DeHart said the duration is “subject to the discussions.”
An Chan-il, a security expert, speculated the two allies are using media in an attempt to better publicize their arguments. But whether they will be able to narrow their differences quickly remains to be seen.
“I would say the negations may last through for the next couple of months, considering the differences between the two sides are too big and it will not be settled soon,” he said.