WASHINGTON (AP) – The United States and South Korea have agreed in principle on a new cost-sharing arrangement for the US troop presence, which is intended as a bulwark against the threat of North Korean aggression, both countries announced .
The State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs said on Sunday that the deal includes a “negotiated increase” in Seoul’s share of the costs, but it did not provide details. The Bureau wrote on Twitter that the agreement, if finalized, would reaffirm the US-South Korea agreement as “the hub of peace, security and prosperity for Northeast Asia.”
South Korea’s State Department issued a similar statement on Monday, saying the two countries are trying to sign the deal for the time being. It said the agreement came after three days of face-to-face talks in Washington.
The US is keeping about 28,000 troops in South Korea to deter possible aggression from North Korea, a legacy of the Korean War of 1950-53. But how much South Korea would have to pay for the US military presence has been a thorny issue in bilateral relations under the Trump administration, which often asked its Asian ally to dramatically increase its share.
In 2019, the allies struck a deal that required South Korea to pay approximately $ 924 million (1.04 trillion won) for the presence of the US forces, up from $ 830 million in the previous year. But negotiations on a new cost-sharing plan culminated in a US demand that Seoul pay five times what it had previously paid.
The State Department said in a statement that the increase in the South’s share of the costs was “significant,” but not more specific.
The Wall Street Journal, which was the first to report the agreement, said it would last until 2025. The South Korean State Department said it could not immediately confirm the report.
In its statement, the State Department said, “America’s alliances are a tremendous source of our strength. This development reflects the commitment of the Biden-Harris administration to revitalize and modernize our democratic alliances around the world to advance our shared security and prosperity. “
Many conservatives in South Korea were concerned that then President Donald Trump could use failed cost-sharing negotiations as an excuse to withdraw some US troops in South Korea as a bargaining chip in the now-stalled nuclear talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The US and South Korea had also halted or canceled some of their military exercises in recent years in support of nuclear diplomacy, which eventually fell apart due to disputes over US-led sanctions against North Korea.
On Monday, the South Korean and American military began annual military exercises that would last nine days. The South Korean military said the exercises are command post drills and computerized simulation and do not include field training. It said the allies revised factors such as COVID-19 status and diplomatic efforts to resume nuclear talks with North Korea when it decided to hold the exercises.
It is unclear how North Korea would react to the exercises. In the past, the North often called regular US-South Korea drills for an invasion rehearsal and responded with missile tests. Lee Jong-joo, spokeswoman for South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, said on Monday that Seoul hopes Pyongyang will act flexibly and sensibly in response to its efforts to promote peace in the Korean peninsula.
The prospects for a new cost-sharing plan have increased as the Biden government has sought to strengthen its alliance with South Korea and other countries.
South Korea began to pay for the deployment of the US military in the early 1990s after rebuilding its economy following the devastation of the Korean War. The large US military presence in South Korea is a symbol of the countries’ alliance, but also a source of long-running anti-American sentiments.
Associated Press writer Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.