This Year's First South Korea-US Defense Cost-Sharing Talks Continue Over 6 Hours Amid Significant Differences in Positions

Meeting Continues on the 15th (Local Time)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] South Korea and the United States held the 11th Special Measures Agreement (SMA) negotiations on defense cost-sharing in Washington DC on the 14th (local time). This was the sixth meeting held amid a gap in the agreement since the 10th SMA expired at the end of last year.

Jeong Eun-bo, South Korea’s SMA chief negotiator, and James DeHart, the U.S. Department of State’s defense cost-sharing negotiator, held a meeting for more than six hours starting at 10 a.m. Both sides plan to continue negotiations on the 15th.

During the meeting, the U.S. side’s position that the defense cost-sharing amount should be significantly increased and South Korea’s stance that a reasonable agreement should be reached within the existing SMA framework appeared to be in strong opposition.

Jeong, speaking to reporters at Dallas Airport near Washington DC the day before, said, "We are narrowing down opinions on various issues, but it is also true that there are still differences in reaching a comprehensive agreement." Before departing for the U.S., Jeong had indicated progress in the defense cost-sharing talks.

Jeong explained, "Both sides are making great efforts to create creative alternatives," adding, "Negotiations are not based on one aspect alone, so there are many mutual compromise efforts."

Furthermore, regarding negotiation principles, Jeong said, "We will maintain the SMA framework and produce mutually acceptable negotiation results," and added, "We will minimize the agreement gap through a swift resolution."

Although U.S. President Donald Trump publicly pressured an increase in defense cost-sharing by stating in an interview with Fox News on the 10th that "South Korea paid an additional $500 million," Jeong was largely unfazed. He remarked, "Since President Trump has mentioned this issue multiple times, I do not think there has been a significant change in the situation."

The South Korean government maintains its position that costs outside the SMA framework, such as the rotational deployment costs of U.S. forces in Korea and strategic asset deployment costs demanded by the U.S., are not subject to discussion. It also remains firm on the principle that negotiations can only proceed at a level acceptable to the public regarding the reportedly demanded $5 billion contribution.

Amid South Korea’s firm stance, James DeHart, the U.S. chief negotiator, showed some flexibility after the 5th round of talks held in Seoul at the end of last year, stating, "The $5 billion is not the amount we are focusing on."

Ultimately, as the chief negotiators of both countries mentioned that the gap in positions is narrowing, attention is focused on how much the differences can be bridged in this round of negotiations.

In particular, the key issues are whether to link the deployment to the Strait of Hormuz and the purchase of U.S. weapons to these negotiations. Jeong also said, "We believe that the contributions we have already made as allies should be fairly evaluated."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.