South Korea and US Agree to One-Day Extension for Defense Cost Talks... US Says "Very Close to Reaching Agreement"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] South Korea and the United States have decided to extend negotiations by one day to finalize the 11th Special Measures Agreement (SMA) on defense cost-sharing.

According to sources on the 6th (local time), the South Korean delegation, which has been conducting negotiations for two days in Washington DC since the previous day, plans to continue talks with the U.S. for one more day on the 7th before returning home on the 8th. Originally, the delegation was scheduled to conclude negotiations by the 6th and return on the 7th, but it was reported that they decided to extend the talks by one day to further coordinate on key issues. The negotiations are being held with Jeong Eun-bo, South Korea’s Special Representative for Defense Cost-Sharing Talks, and Donna Welton, the U.S. Department of State’s lead negotiator for defense cost-sharing, attending as chief representatives.

This round of negotiations marks the 9th meeting and is taking place one month after the 8th meeting, which was held virtually on the 5th of last month shortly after the inauguration of the Joe Biden administration. On the 4th, before departing for the U.S., Special Representative Jeong expressed his determination to effectively conclude the negotiations during his visit, stating, "We will strive to resolve most of the issues in principle."

In particular, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin planning to visit South Korea on the 17th and 18th of this month after their visit to Japan, there is speculation that the final agreement might be announced officially at that time through additional negotiations. The U.S. Department of State reaffirmed its position regarding the progress of the talks, stating, "As we have mentioned before, we are very close to reaching an agreement."

Last March, South Korean and U.S. negotiators tentatively agreed to increase the 2020 defense cost-sharing amount by about 13% from the 2019 amount (KRW 1.0389 trillion), but the final agreement was not reached due to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s rejection, who demanded a significant increase citing the "free rider" argument. The South Korean government maintains that a 13% increase is the maximum, and it is known that the U.S. side also agrees with this stance. Both sides are reportedly considering a multi-year contract for the agreement period.

Earlier, CNN reported last month that South Korea and the U.S. are likely to agree on a multi-year contract with a 13% increase in defense cost-sharing, and The Wall Street Journal also reported that the two countries are close to concluding a five-year agreement.

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