Commander Abrams: "Unpaid Leave Is a Heartbreaking Day"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu]Commander Robert Abrams described the unpaid leave of Korean workers as a "heartbreaking day."

On the morning of the 1st, Commander Abrams posted a 'video message to Korean employees on unpaid leave' on the U.S. Forces Korea Facebook page, expressing this sentiment.

Commander Abrams said, "Due to the failure to reach an agreement on the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) on defense cost-sharing, unpaid leave will be implemented starting today for about half of the Korean employees of the U.S. Forces Korea," adding, "Today is a regrettable and unimaginably heartbreaking day for us."

He continued, "It is unfortunate that we have to implement unpaid leave, and we will miss our employees very much," emphasizing, "Even in these difficult circumstances, we will strive to minimize the impact on immediate combat readiness."

He further stated, "No one can feel the impact of the current situation more than the employees who have been notified of unpaid leave, so I dare not call this a 'difficult time,'" and added, "We are prepared to support them during these challenging times."

Commander Abrams explained, "The unpaid leave was not a reflection of the individual work performance, dedication, or behavior of the Korean employees, but was caused by the absence of a cost-sharing agreement that allows the execution of pre-allocated budgets."

It is estimated that from today, about 4,000 of the approximately 8,600 Korean workers employed by the U.S. Forces Korea have entered unpaid leave. With reports that the two countries have tentatively reached an SMA agreement, there are also expectations that the unpaid leave will not be prolonged.

Meanwhile, working-level officials from Korea and the United States have reportedly agreed to extend the negotiation cycle from one year to five years and significantly reduce the increase in the amount from the previous $4 billion.

The negotiations reportedly gained momentum from last weekend following a phone call between the Korean and U.S. presidents on the 24th of last month regarding the response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). President Moon Jae-in responded that he would provide maximum support for the medical equipment requested by U.S. President Donald Trump, forming a consensus on Korea-U.S. cooperation between the leaders. The diplomatic community has observed that reaffirming the Korea-U.S. alliance between the leaders positively influenced the defense cost-sharing negotiations.

The U.S. side initially demanded an absurdly high contribution of $5 billion, which is six times the amount of last year's contribution. The U.S. later lowered the demand to around $4 billion, but this time it appears to have significantly reduced the amount to a realistic level. It is also reported that the negotiation cycle was agreed to be extended from 'one year' to 'five years,' reflecting many of the Korean government's opinions overall.

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