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Camp Humphreys US military base in Pyeongtaek

During South Korea and the US’ recent negotiations for updating their defense cost-sharing agreement, called the 10th Special Measures Agreement, which will take effect next year, the US reportedly proposed that the agreement’s period of validity be set at one year. Considering that the current agreement is valid for five years, the US’ sudden proposal to reduce that period to one year is putting major pressure on South Korea.

A source who is familiar with the process of the cost-sharing negotiations said on Dec. 27 that the US had proposed making the next agreement only valid for one year (in 2019) during the 10th round of negotiations that were held in Seoul from Dec. 11 to 13. The period of validity was one of the major points being debated in the negotiations, along with the total amount of South Korea’s contribution.

South Korean negotiators reportedly responded to the US’ proposal by saying that they could consider reducing the period to one year but that they needed the total amount of South Korea’s defense contribution to be lowered from the US’ original demand. But the US is reportedly still holding to its demand for a much higher amount. South Korean negotiators are attempting to arrange the next round of negotiations for the middle of Jan. 2019, but the date is still up in the air.

The US’ intentions are still not entirely clear, but they appear to be linked to a sweeping strategy of readjusting the framework of defense cost-sharing by American allies around the world. US President Donald Trump had repeatedly bashed rich countries for getting a “free ride” and ratcheted up pressure on South Korea, Japan, and the European members of NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) to sharply increase their share of the cost of stationing American troops in their territory.

Trump says that the US will no longer serve as the global policeman or be a sucker to anybody. Under these circumstances, the US may be trying to buy time to develop a new strategy by striking a short-term, one-year agreement with South Korea and then apply that strategy not only to South Korea but also to Japan and NATO, which are scheduled to have their own cost-sharing negotiations next year.

Following cost-sharing negotiations that had begun in March, South Korea and the US had substantially narrowed their differences about South Korea’s total contribution during the 10th round of negotiations held in Seoul from Dec. 11 to 13, but the negotiations had to basically start over from scratch after higher-ups in the US ordered negotiators to ask for a huge increase in South Korea’s contribution.

Under the 9th cost-sharing agreement, which is currently in effect, South Korea’s share is around 960.2 billion won (US$859.1 million), but for the 10th agreement, reports say that the US suddenly asked for a steep increase, around 50%. The abrupt proposal for the agreement’s period of validity to be reduced from five years to one is also identified as one of the major causes of the negotiations grinding to a halt.

“We continue to use diplomatic channels to talk with the US about additional negotiations in the future and about ways to adjust our positions,” an official from South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said during a meeting with reporters on Thursday.

Since the current agreement is set to expire on Dec. 31, there are concerns that the lack of an active agreement, if prolonged, could create problems for the payment of wages to South Koreans working at American military bases around the country. US Forces Korea (USFK) has been pressuring South Korea in various ways, notifying the USFK Korean Employees Union on Nov. 7 that South Korean employees would be put on unpaid leave starting in mid-April 2019 if the negotiations remained deadlocked.

By Park Min-hee, senior staff reporter

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