South Korea asked to delay defense cost talks with US

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, center, holds a meeting with South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, Aug. 9 in Seoul. AP-Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

Experts advise South Korea to keep delaying the negotiations on defense cost sharing with the United States, in what critics say is one of the most realistic ways for the South to keep the momentum of denuclearization with North Korea talks alive.

The negotiation is the talk of the diplomatic town here with U.S President Donald Trump insisting Seoul should pay more money to the United States, claiming Americans pay too much to cover its ally's defense costs. In a recent tweet, Trump said he already began negotiations with South Korea on increasing the $900 million it now pays the United States to station U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) troops here.

Defense cost sharing between the United States and South Korea was discussed recently during a visit by Washington's defense secretary Mark Esper. South Korea currently pays 1.04 trillion won ($855.8 million) under the 2019 Special Measures Agreement (SMA), up 8.2 percent from the previous year.

But the key rationale is that “at this point,” it's too early to accept the repeated U.S. requests for increasing the burden on Korea given the slow progress in North Korea's denuclearization talks since the failure in Hanoi.

The cost sharing talks are a test of Trump's insistence that U.S. allies “should pay more” for their own defense. While he said recently he would consider a possible withdrawal or reduction of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea “maybe someday” to save money, any agreement with Washington to pay more would underestimate President Moon Jae-in's efforts to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear weapons.

An increased payment for defense costs does mean South Korea would deploy more advanced weapons in joint military drills with U.S. forces, here. The North views the drill as a “rehearsal” for an invasion. It fired several short-range ballistic missiles as a protest for this year's joint military dill between Seoul and Washington.

The military exercise is crucial for the South to maintain military readiness against the bellicose North Korean troops. But Trump is taking issue with the drill, and utilizing it as an excuse to make the South pay more.

“As of now, one of the best-case scenarios is to keep delaying the start of the negotiation between the two sides, and patiently prepare for the dialogue as thoroughly as possible,” a political analyst in Seoul said.

Seoul is taking steps to buy time. In recent talks with the top U.S. negotiator Timothy Betts, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Seoul is seeing “some points of criticism” over increasing payment for defense costs. She added Seoul and Washington were able to close the gap on the “total amount” because South Korea has several domestic steps it needs to go through.

A specific timeline has yet to be fixed for beginning the 2020 SMA negotiations. South Korea is saying it pays a fair share of the $2 billion per year needed to keep the USFK here, with funds used mainly for salaries for some 9,000 local employees who provide food and other types of administrative services. It also paid the majority of the over $11 billion price tag for expanding U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys as part of a plan to relocate most USFK personnel south of Seoul.

“South Korea should not be in a hurry to resume the negotiations, and should engage in the talks in a patient manner without being swayed by Washington's repeated political rhetoric,” the analyst said.