Seoul-Washington defense cost-sharing talks to resume this week in Hawaii
- 5 years ago
South Korea and the U.S. will meet in Hawaii this week to discuss the issue of defense cost-sharing,... which will be applied from next year.
A fierce debate is expected as there's an enormous gap between the two allies over how much South Korea should pay for the upkeep of the roughly 28-thousand U.S. troops on its soil.
Kim Hyo-sun reports.
Seoul and Washington will hold their next round of defense cost-sharing talks in Hawaii from Tuesday to Thursday, local time.
The upcoming talks,... is the second of their kind since the allies sat down last month to determine how much Seoul should pay for the U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.
Seoul's stance is that it's already covering nearly half of the 1-point-6 billion U.S. dollars which is related to the facilities and area costs of stationing over 28-thousand U.S. soldiers on its soil.
"I've stated that the issue of defense cost-sharing will be resolved in a rational and just manner."
Washington is expected to ask South Korea to pay five billion U.S. dollars a year.
To this, the South Korean government will likely highlight the fact that it shall only be responsible for costs associated with the facilities and areas that are used by U.S. troops,... in accordance to the South Korea-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement - referred to as SOFA.
However, the Trump administration is expected to press Seoul to pay a lot more.
"South Korea and I have made a deal. They agreed to pay a lot more money for the United States."
Considering Seoul has to keep in mind the importance of cooperation with Washington in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue,... this week's talks will likely be a tough grind for South Korea's team of negotiators.
Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News.
A fierce debate is expected as there's an enormous gap between the two allies over how much South Korea should pay for the upkeep of the roughly 28-thousand U.S. troops on its soil.
Kim Hyo-sun reports.
Seoul and Washington will hold their next round of defense cost-sharing talks in Hawaii from Tuesday to Thursday, local time.
The upcoming talks,... is the second of their kind since the allies sat down last month to determine how much Seoul should pay for the U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.
Seoul's stance is that it's already covering nearly half of the 1-point-6 billion U.S. dollars which is related to the facilities and area costs of stationing over 28-thousand U.S. soldiers on its soil.
"I've stated that the issue of defense cost-sharing will be resolved in a rational and just manner."
Washington is expected to ask South Korea to pay five billion U.S. dollars a year.
To this, the South Korean government will likely highlight the fact that it shall only be responsible for costs associated with the facilities and areas that are used by U.S. troops,... in accordance to the South Korea-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement - referred to as SOFA.
However, the Trump administration is expected to press Seoul to pay a lot more.
"South Korea and I have made a deal. They agreed to pay a lot more money for the United States."
Considering Seoul has to keep in mind the importance of cooperation with Washington in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue,... this week's talks will likely be a tough grind for South Korea's team of negotiators.
Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News.