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South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha (third from left) meets with David Stilwell (far left), US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and Keith Krach (second from left), under secretary for economic growth, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Nov. 6. (Foreign Ministry joint photo pool)

“It’s quite encouraging that President Moon and Prime Minister Abe had an opportunity to talk.”

David Stilwell, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, made this remark while speaking to reporters at South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Nov. 6. The meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Bangkok on Nov. 4, Stilwell said, was an “encouraging signal” as he watches for improvement in South Korea-Japan relations.

Stilwell’s remarks are taken as an indirect emphasis of the US’ hopes that South Korea and Japan will improve their relations and thereby extend their GSOMIA intelligence-sharing agreement, which currently is slated to expire at midnight on Nov. 23, just 17 days away.

Stilwell held a series of meetings with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, First Vice Minister Cho Sei-young, and Blue House National Security Office Second Deputy Chief Kim Hyun-chong in the morning and with Deputy Defense Minister Chung Suk-hwan that afternoon.

On a day in which the US State Department’s chief representatives for East Asian policy, defense cost-sharing negotiations, and economic matters were all in Seoul, the meetings appear to have been focused on the American government’s pressure on South Korea to extend GSOMIA and to agree to a major increase in its contribution to the cost of stationing American troops on the Korean Peninsula.

While Stilwell didn’t put any direct pressure on South Korea to reconsider its decision to terminate GSOMIA during his meeting with Kang, he did reportedly have a detailed discussion of current issues affecting South Korea’s relationship with the US and their trilateral relationship with Japan during his meeting with Cho. Though the US has been pressuring South Korea by stressing the need to extend GSOMIA during government meetings and press interviews, Stilwell reportedly only reaffirmed the importance of trilateral security cooperation among the US, South Korea, and Japan during his deliberations on Wednesday.

On Nov. 6, civic demonstrators gather outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to denounce the US for pressuring South Korea to extend its GSOMIA agreement with Japan and to increase its contributions to US Forces Korea.

On Wednesday morning, Stilwell met with Kim at the Blue House’s west annex “for more than the planned 70 minutes,” Blue House Spokesperson Ko Min-jung said. Kim held a separate 70-minute meeting with Robert Abrams, commander of US Forces Korea, on Wednesday afternoon. These two meetings included a concrete discussion of current issues affecting the two countries, including GSOMIA and the defense cost-sharing negotiations.

Kim provided a detailed explanation of South Korea’s position on these issues, while Stilwell and Abrams reiterated that the South Korea-US alliance is a linchpin of security in Northeast Asia. During their cost-sharing negotiations, the Americans are reportedly asking for South Korea to increase its defense contribution nearly six-fold to US$5 billion. To counter those demands, Kim reportedly explained that the South Korean government has made considerable contributions to the alliance, including constantly increasing acquisitions of American weaponry and steadily raising its share of the defense costs.

Next, Stilwell headed to the Ministry of National Defense (MND) for a meeting with Deputy Defense Minister Chung Suk-hwan, where they shared opinions about security developments on the Korean Peninsula and discussed types of cooperation that could promote the future-oriented development of the South Korea-US alliance, the MND said. When a reporter asked Stilwell prior to his meeting with Chung whether he’d had any talks about GSOMIA and, if so, how they’d gone, Stilwell said that there had been “fantastic discussions.”

As the GSOMIA termination deadline approaches, the US seems to be moving briskly to hold talks with the South Korean and Japanese government that are focused on various potential ways to keep the GSOMIA agreement in place.

James DeHart, the US State Department’s chief negotiator in the defense cost-sharing talks, is also on an unexpected visit to South Korea through Thursday. DeHart’s visit is separate from the third round of negotiations for the two countries’ 11th Special Measures Agreement (SMA), slated to be held in Seoul during November.

“Since Trump has called for a fair division of expenses in defense cost-sharing negotiations not only with South Korea but also with other countries where American troops are based, government officials appear to be moving aggressively,” said an official in the South Korean government.

In related news, Keith Krach, US under secretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment, held the fourth US-South Korea Senior Economic Dialogue with Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho on Wednesday. During the meeting, Krach and Lee adopted a joint statement about seeking potential forms of cooperation by linking South Korea’s New Southern Policy and the US’ Indo-Pacific Strategy.

By Noh Ji-won and Lee wan, staff reporters

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