The 8th round of negotiations on sharing the costs for the upkeep of US troops in South Korea will be held in Seoul this week.

Attention to Be Paid to Settlement of US Presidential Election Before the Upcoming,
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Negotiating team heading to the US-Korea defense cost-sharing negotiation meeting in June
[Photo by Yonhap News],
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, ‘(Seoul=Yonhap News) By Lee Sang-hyun = The 12th U.S.-Korea Special Measures Agreement (SMA) Working Group 8 meeting to determine Korea’s share of the USFK defense cost after 2026 will be held in Seoul from the 25th to the 27th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 23rd.’,
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, ‘A Foreign Ministry official said today, “The government plans to proceed with the negotiations under the position that our defense cost sharing should be done at a reasonable level for the stable stationing conditions of the US forces in Korea and the enhancement of the U.S.-Korea combined defense posture.”‘,
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, ‘Following the 7th meeting held from the 27th to the 29th last month, the reconvened meeting after about a month is drawing attention as it may reach a conclusion before the US presidential election in November. The negotiation could face significant variables once a new government takes office in the U.S.’,
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, ‘Earlier, the U.S. side mentioned in a statement released after the 7th meeting that “good progress has been made,” indicating that the two sides have narrowed their differences to some extent.’,
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, ‘Recently, the U.S. CNN broadcast cited four former U.S. officials and speculated that both Korea and the U.S. might conclude a new agreement on defense cost sharing before the end of this year in preparation for the possibility of a second Trump administration.’,
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, ‘Since the first meeting held in Hawaii from April 23 to 25, the U.S. and Korea have been holding meetings once or twice a month.’,
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, ‘The SMA is an agreement that specifies the amount Korea will bear in the cost of stationing U.S. forces, and the Korean share is used for three items: personnel costs (wages for Korean employees of the U.S. forces), military construction costs (support for facility construction), and military support costs (service and material support).’,
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, ‘The 11th SMA signed by the U.S. and Korea in 2021 is valid until the end of 2025. The defense cost sharing agreed upon in the 11th SMA for 2021 increased by 13.9% to 1.18 trillion won compared to the previous year. The cost sharing until 2025 will be increased in line with Korea’s defense expenditure growth rate.’,
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, ‘hapyry@yna.co.kr’,
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