US defense chief to discuss cost-sharing, nuclear issues

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, speaks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, at the beginning of annual talks with Australia in Sydney, Sunday. AP-Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

United States Defense Secretary Mark Esper will visit South Korea this week, for the first time since taking office late last month, to discuss security issues with his counterpart.

His trip comes amid growing security uncertainty in Asia following Washington's recent decision to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia, which bans ground-based cruise missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers.

The U.S. “would like to” deploy medium-range missile weapons in Asia “sooner rather than later,” the new defense chief said at the weekend, a day after Washington officially abandoned the treaty, claiming Moscow violated the agreement.

Esper plans to meet Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, Aug. 9, to discuss a range of international and bilateral issues.

According to military experts and the ministry, these include the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the planned transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) from Washington to Seoul and South Korea's plan to terminate a trilateral military information-sharing pact with Japan.

Another key topic possibly on the agenda is cost-sharing between Washington and Seoul to pay for the U.S. military presence here. National Security Adviser John Bolton is reported to have demanded that Seoul pay a “five-fold increase” of $5 billion in a new agreement to take effect next year.

The Trump administration has in recent years urged South Korea to pay more for the United States Forces Korea. It remains unclear whether Washington demanded a specific amount under the 2020 Special Measures Agreement (SMA).

Under the 2019 SMA, South Korea is paying 1.04 trillion won ($866 million) for the upkeep of the USFK.

Esper and Jeong will also discuss how the deployment of U.S. intermediate-range missiles in Asia could affect the nuclear talks with Pyongyang.

Esper is expected to ask Seoul to join the U.S.-led maritime security mission in the Strait of Hormuz, according to political experts and sources familiar with the issue.

Bolton's visit to Seoul brought an agreement to tighten the two countries' naval security partnership in the Gulf. Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told Bolton that Korea remained “fully supportive” of Washington's Hormuz initiative.

The Korea Times was the first to report discussions on redeploying Korea's Cheonghae unit from waters off Somalia to the Strait of Hormuz.

The Esper meeting will also cover North Korea. Hopes had been rekindled that suspended nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang might resume soon, after U.S. President Donald Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, June 30.

But there have been no clear signs of the resumption of working-level talks.

“North Korea will strategically utilize the disputed plan by the U.S. as an excuse to further delay the dialogue on denuclearization of the peninsula,” a political analyst said in Seoul, Sunday.

“Pyongyang does not have to be in a hurry to restart the dialogue, so the North is likely to continue seeking ways to gain an upper hand in forthcoming negotiations, rather than hurriedly resuming the talks.”

This is in line with the North's plan to take political advantage of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, according to the expert. The election will go into full swing next February when Iowa holds the first presidential nomination contest.

Trump needs to win more votes by underlining that he has contributed to bringing peace on the peninsula by forming close ties with Kim.

But if the North engages in military provocations next year, it will be a major problem for him.