US & S. Korea to begin negotiations on sharing military costs
Badhon : The United States and South Korea will begin negotiating this week a new cost-sharing agreement for basing U.S. troops in South Korea, Seoul said Monday. ‘The two sides will discuss to produce a reasonable pact that can help strengthen the joint defense readiness of South Korea and the U.S. and be accepted by our people’, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said. (The Hill)
The negotiations come at a critical time for the alliance, with North Korea making rapid progress on its nuclear and missile programs. President Trump has spoken about wanting South Korea to take on a greater share of the cost of deploying U.S. troops there.
Under a cost-sharing deal reached in 2014, Seoul paid $867 million toward U.S. military costs that year, and its share has risen each year based on inflation. This year, South Korea is paying about $890 million, a little less than half of the total. The current deal, the ninth since 1991, expires Dec. 31. The first round of negotiations for the 10th deal will take place Wednesday through Friday in Honolulu, according to the foreign ministry.
The United States has about 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea.