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| Rep. Cho Jeong-sik, chief policymaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, center, speaks during a party meeting at the National Assembly, Thursday. Yonhap |
By Park Ji-won
Members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Thursday floated the idea of including South Korea's indirect financial contributions for the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) as "leverage" if Washington keeps asking Seoul to pay "excessive" costs.
"If Washington keeps making absurd demands, South Korea will seriously reconsider the adjustment of indirect costs created by the USFK apart from defense cost-sharing," Rep. Cho Jeong-sik, chief policymaker of the DPK, said during a party meeting, Thursday.
Underlining that U.S. President Donald Trump's current rumored demand for Seoul to pay $5 billion for U.S. forces here is "excessive" and not written in the U.S.―South Korea Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) or the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), he added the U.S.' demands for Korea to pay more in additional categories such as rotation of U.S. forces and off-peninsula drills are irrelevant to the defense of the Korean Peninsula.
"Korea is making large contributions in many categories directly and indirectly. For example, Korea is letting the USFK use harbors, railways and land for free. It costs 3.5 trillion won as of 2015. Seoul can [recalculate the indirect contributions] and use them as leverage," another DPK lawmaker who is familiar with the SMA negotiations said during a phone interview with The Korea Times.
The last round of talks broke down between Seoul and Washington over the renewal of the South's defense cost-sharing deal for next year. After the breakdown, the chief U.S. negotiator James DeHart said Washington was expecting to resume the negotiations when Seoul is prepared to cooperate on the "basis of mutual trust." But Jeong Eun-bo, chief South Korean negotiator in the talks, told reporters South Korea will stick to its principle of paying additional costs only under equitable and fair guidelines.
Another DPK lawmaker didn't completely rule out the possibility of restructuring the USFK, but added Washington would maintain the current number of troops in South Korea for a "couple more years."
"As far as I know, DPK floor leader Rep. Lee In-young, who is now in Washington, D.C., for scheduled meetings with senior White House and U.S. government officials, as well as members of Senate and the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill, is also set to express the National Assembly's general consensus for the need for a stronger alliance between the United States and South Korea," the lawmaker said on condition of anonymity.
Speaking at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee nomination, Thursday morning (KST), U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, who has been nominated for the second-highest post at the State Department, said he believed Washington "should continue to station troops in South Korea."
While U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper didn't deny or admit the possibility of downsizing the USFK in response to questions from reporters during his visit to the Philippines, the South's defense ministry said Thursday Washington "reaffirmed its commitment" to maintain the current size at 28,500 troops.
Pointing to the Joint Communique adopted following the 51st Security Consultative Meeting between Esper and South Korea's Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, ministry spokesperson Col. Roh Jae-cheon told reporters in a regular briefing that the two countries were sharing "a firm notion" regarding the USFK's roles and importance for peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia.
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