Seoul [South Korea], January 17: Dialogue on the cost of maintaining US soldiers in Korea was conducted early, before the possibility of former President Donald Trump being re-elected.
Reuters reported on January 17 that South Korea and the United States agreed to begin a preliminary dialogue on sharing the cost of maintaining the US garrison, aiming to reach an agreement before the possibility of former President Donald Trump returning to the White House.
Mr. Trump is a prominent candidate for the position of Republican Party representative running for President of the United States in the election on November 5. During his previous term, he demanded that allies in Northeast Asia spend up to $5 billion a year to maintain US garrisons.
Negotiations on the "special measures" deal were deadlocked for months during Trump's term, and the deal was reached after South Korea agreed to increase its contributions by 13.9%, a large annual increase. most in nearly 2 decades.
The above agreement will expire in 2025. Yonhap and Newspim cited anonymous diplomatic sources as saying that South Korea and the US agreed to start dialogue this year on extending the agreement to 2026 and beyond. . Usually, dialogue is held just before the deal closes.
South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Lim Soo-suk refused to comment on the above information, only saying that the government will prepare for further negotiations in a "systematic, strategic" way.
A US State Department spokesman said a delegation from the Office of Security Negotiations and Agreements visited South Korea from December 11-17, 2023 to discuss implementation of the 11th Special Measures Agreement. (SMA) current.
"We will cooperate closely to prepare for the 12th SMA negotiations. We have not made any specific decisions on negotiations," according to the above spokesman.
US troops are deployed in South Korea in an effort by both countries to deter North Korea, which is stepping up its nuclear and missile programs. The US currently has about 28,500 soldiers stationed in Korea, according to the US Department of Defense website .
South Korea began absorbing the costs of US troop deployments, used to pay for local labor , construction of military facilities and other logistical support, in the early 1990s.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
