7th round of military cost negotiations, US seeks reasonable division with South Korea

On August 26, the US State Department announced the 7th round of negotiations on the US-ROK Special Military Cost-Sharing Agreement (SMA), which will be held in Seoul from August 27-29.

The US and South Korea will start the first round of negotiations on the SMA from April 23-25 in Hawaii, and then hold one to two rounds of negotiations every month. (Source: Reuters)

It is expected that in this round of negotiations, the US will continue to consult with South Korea on the principle of reasonably dividing Seoul's burden, to both establish stable stationing conditions for US troops and strengthen the joint defense posture.

The above round of talks took place just 2 weeks after the previous 6th round of negotiations, which took place from August 12-14.

The public is concerned about whether the two countries will reach a final conclusion on South Korea's contribution before the US presidential election in November, as the new US administration taking power may greatly influence the SMA negotiation process.

The US and South Korea will start the first round of negotiations on the SMA from April 23-25 in Hawaii, and then hold one to two rounds of negotiations each month.

The SMA stipulates South Korea's contribution to the cost of the US garrison, including three categories: labor costs, military construction costs and logistics support costs.

The 11th SMA signed in 2021 is effective until the end of 2025, in which South Korea's contribution in 2021 is 1,183.3 billion won (892.2 million USD), an increase of 13.9% compared to the previous year, the increase in the following years until 2025 is equivalent to the increase in Seoul's defense budget.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/la-n-thu-7-da-m-phan-ve-chi-phi-quan-su-my-ti-m-kiem-khoa-n-phan-chia-hop-ly-voi-ha-n-quoc-284027.html