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S. Korea, US begin new round of talks on defense cost-sharing
By Shim Sun-ah
SEOUL, Aug. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States began a new round of high-level talks here Thursday only to confirm their differences over how to share the cost of maintaining tens of thousands of U.S. troops stationed in Korea in the coming years.
The two countries have differed over how much Seoul should pay for stationing the 28,500 U.S. soldiers in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. Washington has asked for a greater contribution, while South Korea remains largely opposed to paying more.
The U.S. pressed Seoul to increase its share of the cost to 50 percent and allow the U.S. to use part of the money for the relocation of the U.S. base out of Seoul, South Korean officials said.
Last year, Seoul paid 725.5 billion won (US$720 million) to Washington, about 42 percent of the total expense.
South Korea proposed to set its share at an "adequate and reasonable" level and to change the cost-sharing method from paying one lump sum to sending materials on a case-by-case basis.
The first meeting was held in Washington on July 21, and confirmed the wide gap separating the two sides' positions.
Cho Byeong-je, director of the Foreign Ministry's U.S. bureau, led the South Korean delegation. The chief U.S. delegate was Jackson McDonald, ambassador for defense cost-sharing negotiations at the U.S. State Department.
sshim@yna.co.kr
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