S. Korea, US resume talks on defense cost-sharing

South Korea and the US will resume talks Tuesday in Los Angeles to discuss the upkeep of 28,500 American troops in Korea and 9,000 Koreans working alongside at the US military here, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Jeong Eun-bo, Korea’s chief negotiator, is expected to push for a partial agreement to address the salaries of those workers in his two-day talks with James DeHart, the top US negotiator. The Korean workers were notified that they would be put on unpaid leave starting April 1, amid stalled talks on sharing troop costs.

The US had rejected Korea’s proposal for a side deal to pay the Korean workers while settling on a new defense cost-sharing deal, known as the Special Measures Agreement, saying side negotiations would forestall a “reciprocal, comprehensive” SMA.

Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of the US military in Korea, said the unpaid leave would not affect US military members’ “life, health or safety or minimum readiness,” in the short term. But he said he was unsure of its long term consequences.

Vincent Brooks, former commander of the 28,500 US troops, warned of the ramifications of a prolonged impasse.

“This is about obligation of authority. And trying to play a game of chicken if you will where one side waits to see of any one is going to flinch or move first will be very damaging to the alliance,” he told Voice of America.

An agreement has been elusive since September 2019, when the two allies first started the talks on sharing troops costs, as Korea and the US have yet to narrow the gap on how much more Seoul should contribute for this year. Washington had earlier asked for about $5 billion, fivefold what Seoul had been paying.

By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)