IANS | 22 Apr, 2024
Negotiators from South Korea and the United States will hold talks in
Honolulu, Hawaii this week to discuss how to share an upkeep cost for
the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), Seoul's foreign ministry said on Monday.
The first round of negotiations for the 12th
Special Measures Agreement (SMA), the South Korea-U.S. deal on sharing a
defense cost for about 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea,
will be held in Honolulu from Tuesday to Thursday, Xinhua news agency
reported.
According to the foreign ministry, South Korea
has planned to consult with the United States on the basis of the
principle that defense costs should be shared at a reasonable level to
create stable conditions for the USFK presence and strengthen the South
Korea-U.S. joint defense posture.
The 11th SMA, which was reached in 2021, is scheduled to expire at the end of 2025.
Under
the 11th SMA, South Korea paid 1.18 trillion won (854.8 million U.S.
dollars) in 2021 for the stationing of U.S. soldiers, up 13.9 percent
compared to the previous year.
Since 1991, South Korea has
shared the upkeep for the U.S. forces here, including costs for South
Korean civilians hired by the USFK, construction of military
installations and logistics support.
