Korea-US Meet After Two Months, Will They Find Common Ground in 6-Month-Long Defense Cost-Sharing Talks?

Seventh Negotiation in the US on 17-18th
Disagreement Remains on Defense Cost Increase... Unpaid Leave for Korean Workers at USFK Looms on July 1

Jeong Eun-bo, the Special Representative for U.S.-Korea Defense Cost-Sharing Talks, is briefing on the U.S.-Korea defense cost-sharing negotiations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 19th. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The South Korean and U.S. delegations resumed negotiations on the 11th Special Measures Agreement (SMA) on defense cost-sharing on the 17th (local time) in the United States. Although there is a significant gap in their positions regarding the scale of the defense cost increase, both sides are making last-minute efforts to narrow the distance ahead of the unpaid leave for Korean workers employed by the U.S. Forces Korea, scheduled to take effect on April 1.

On the 18th, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official stated, "The seventh meeting for concluding the SMA was held and concluded on the morning and afternoon of the 17th local time in Los Angeles, USA." This meeting, resumed after two months since the last one held on January 14-15 (local time) in Washington DC, USA, is scheduled to continue for two days until the 18th.

After the January negotiations, the Korean side proposed prioritizing the settlement of labor costs for Korean workers employed by the U.S. Forces Korea and requested a prompt resumption of talks. However, the U.S. side continued pressure outside the negotiation table while consistently showing reluctance to set a negotiation schedule. It is reported that Jeong Eun-bo, South Korea’s SMA negotiator, and James DeHart, the U.S. Department of State’s SMA representative, are working intensively to reconcile differences during this meeting after two months of no contact.

The negotiations, which have been ongoing since September last year, saw both sides strongly opposing each other over the scale of the defense cost increase. The Korean side has maintained the view that the U.S. proposal for the increase is neither reasonable nor fair. The U.S. initially proposed $5 billion, six times the previous year’s defense cost, then somewhat adjusted it to $4 billion, while the Korean side is reportedly insisting on a single-digit increase. This represents a very large gap.

If no conclusion is reached in this seventh round of negotiations, it is expected that the unpaid leave situation for Korean workers employed by the U.S. Forces Korea will be unavoidable. Accordingly, the Korean delegation aims for a full agreement but plans to focus on prioritizing the settlement of labor costs if differences cannot be narrowed. The Korean side has already proposed a memorandum of understanding to the U.S. side to prioritize settling the labor cost item first and then proceed with additional negotiations.

On the 16th (local time), Ambassador Jeong arrived at Los Angeles Airport and told reporters, "We must first strive to conclude the main SMA negotiations as soon as possible," adding, "If concluding the main negotiations proves difficult, efforts should also be made to settle the proposals already put forward."

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official emphasized, "The government maintains the basic position of sharing defense costs at a reasonable and fair level within the existing agreement framework and intends to closely consult with the U.S. side to promptly reach a mutually acceptable agreement," adding, "The government expects the negotiations to proceed in a way that strengthens the ROK-U.S. alliance and combined defense posture."

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