U.S., Seoul OK deal on sharing military costs
SEOUL — South Korea and the United States struck a new deal Sunday that increases Seoul’s contribution for the cost of the American military presence on its soil, overcoming previous failed negotiations that caused worries about their decades-long alliance.
South Korea last year provided about $830 million, covering roughly 40 percent of the cost of the deployment of 28,500 U.S. soldiers whose presence is meant to deter aggression from North Korea. President Trump has pushed for South Korea to pay more.
On Sunday, chief negotiators from the two countries signed the new cost-sharing plan, which requires South Korea to pay about 1.04 trillion won ($924 million) in 2019, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The statement said the two countries reaffirmed the need for a “stable” U.S. military deployment amid the “rapidly changing situation on the Korean Peninsula.” The ministry said the U.S. assured South Korea that it is committed to the alliance and has no plans to adjust the number of its troops in South Korea.
The development comes as Trump is set to hold his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam in late February.
South Korea began paying for the U.S. military deployment in the early 1990s, after rebuilding its economy from the devastation of the 19501953 Korean War. The big U.S. military presence in South Korea is a symbol of the countries’ alliance, forged in blood during the war, but also a source of long-running anti-American sentiments.
“The United States government realizes that Korea does a lot for our alliance and peace and stability in the region,” chief U.S. negotiator Timothy Betts said Sunday in Seoul. “We are very pleased our consultations resulted in agreement that will strengthen transparency and deepen our cooperation and the alliance.”
The deal, which involves the spending of South Korean taxpayer money, requires parliamentary approval in South Korea, but not in the United States, according to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry.
The allies had failed to reach a new cost-sharing plan during some 10 rounds of talks. A fiveyear 2014 deal that covered South Korea’s payment last year expired at the end of 2018.
South Korean media reported that Trump demanded South Korea double its spending for the U.S. military deployment, before the U.S. eventually asked for 1.13 trillion won ($1 billion).