U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and South Korean counterpart Jeong Kyeong-doo acknowledged Monday they still have a lot of work to resolve a divisive dispute over the payments for the U.S. troops defending Seoul from North Korea on the divided Korean peninsula.
President Trump has pushed for a fivefold increase in the payments South Korea makes for the nearly 30,000 American troops stationed there, sparking a sharp debate between the two allies at a time when North Korea has stepped up its hostile rhetoric over the stalemate in talks to end Pyongyang’s nuclear programs. Several rounds of talks between U.S. and South Korean officials have failed to come up with a compromise figure that will satisfy Mr. Trump and is politically palatable for the South Koreans.
“Shouldering the cost of our common defense cannot fall disproportionately to the American taxpayers. We must find a more sustainable and equitable means of sharing the costs of our combined defense with [South Korea],” Mr. Esper said.
The cost-sharing “Special Measures Agreement,” or SMA, expired at the end of 2019 and has yet to be renewed. U.S. officials have talked of the new South Korea payment agreement as the template they hope to use with other allies under the U.S. security umbrella.
As a “global economic powerhouse,” South Korea has the financial security to make a larger contribution to its own security, Mr. Esper said. “The current Special Measures Agreement captures only a portion of the overall costs associated with the United States’ defense of South Korea. The United States believes it should cover more.”
The Pentagon chief said he and Mr. Jeong had had a “productive and candid” discussion, but had no deal to announce. The Trump administration is reportedly demanding up to $5 billion a year — a fivefold jump over the amount before the SMA expired.
Mr. Jeong said South Korea has compromised during the course of the negotiations and had even increased its contribution last year.
“I know that we are considering a higher rate of increase for the SMA contributions for these negotiations as well. But it is also true that there still remains a difference of position regarding the large increases” sought by the U.S. side,” he said through a translator.
The SMA negotiations between both countries is currently at a standstill, the South Korean minister said.
“I believe it’s very important for the negotiating teams of both sides to meet as often as they can,” he said. “I hope the conversation can continue again as soon as possible.”
The Trump Administration is making similar demands of Japan, South Korea’s neighbor, where some 50,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed.
“Increased burden sharing is a top priority for the United States across our alliances,” Mr. Esper said. “We consistently urge NATO allies to contribute more to our shared defense and we ask the same of South Korea and other partners.”
American military officials in South Korea have begun sending furlough letters to local Korean workers who support U.S. troops there and whose salaries come from the annually renewed SMAs. They will be placed on unpaid leave in April if no agreement is reached by then.
“I believe that is a very difficult pill to swallow,” Mr. Jeong said. He proposed tapping into the operations management budget of the U.S. Forces Korea to cover the missed wages of the Korean workers.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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