ID :
20548
Mon, 09/22/2008 - 11:30
Auther :

S. Korea, U.S. to hold talks on defense cost sharing

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States will try again to narrow differences this week over how much Seoul should pay for the presence of American troops here, officials said Monday.

The new round of talks, the third this year, will be held in Washington on
Wednesday and Thursday, focusing on setting South Korea's portion for the coming
years and changing the formula for its financial contributions, they added.
"The two sides reviewed each other's position in the two previous rounds," a
South Korean foreign ministry official said. "Full-fledged negotiations are
expected from now on."
Washington has called for Seoul to increase its share to 50 percent from the
current 42 percent.
South Korea paid 725.5 billion won (US$720 million) to Washington last year and
is supposed to pay the same amount this year with an adjustment for inflation
under the Special Measures Agreement (SMA).
In a bid to head off a controversy over what constitutes an appropriate
contribution, South Korea is also seeking to provide the U.S. military with
funds and materials on a case-by-case basis rather than paying a lump sum of
cash.
"But the U.S. is strongly opposed to the proposal," the official said on the
condition of anonymity.
Another sticking point is whether the U.S. should be allowed to use South Korean
taxpayers' money for the multi-trillion-project of moving the Second Infantry
Division to a consolidated base in Pyeongtaek, 70 km south of Seoul.
Under the 2004 Land Partnership Plan deal, the U.S. is required to pay all costs
for the relocation of the front-line division, while South Korea agreed to
shoulder the cost of moving the Yongsan Garrison in central Seoul to Pyeongtaek.
The U.S. wants the costs of the relocation of the Second Infantry Division to be
included in South Korea's annual contributions to U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), a
plan that would sharply increase Seoul's financial burden.
In the SMA talks, South Korea is represented by Cho Byung-je, ambassador for
talks on defense cost-sharing, and his counterpart is Jackson McDonald, senior
advisor for security negotiations.
About 28,500 U.S. soldiers are stationed on the peninsula as a legacy of the
1950-53 Korean War.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)

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