hankyoreh

The fourth round of negotiations for the 11th Special Measures Agreement (SMA), held in Washington, DC, on Dec. 3-4. (provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

The fifth round of ongoing negotiations aimed at updating South Korea and the US’ defense cost-sharing arrangement is likely to be held in Seoul next week. The 11th Special Measures Agreement (SMA), as the cost-sharing arrangement is known, is supposed to go into effect next year. Although the previous 10th SMA will become void at the end of the year, the disagreement between the two sides is so sharp that the negotiations are unlikely to reach a breakthrough by then.

Diplomatic sources familiar with the status of the negotiations told the Hankyoreh on Dec. 12 that South Korea and the US are expected to remain at loggerheads in this round of negotiations, each side stressing their contributions to the alliance. South Korea is underlining its continuing acquisitions of large amounts of American-manufactured weaponry. It ranks third globally in these defense acquisitions, with the US exporting US$6.73 billion worth of weapons to South Korea over the past 10 years.

In separate deliberations between the two countries, Seoul agreed to resume control of four American bases in the country. South Korea will cover the cost of cleaning up environmental contamination on those bases, which runs to 110 billion won (US$94.03 million), with the condition that the two sides hold future deliberations about how to split the cost of decontamination. South Korea will likely try to use that concession as leverage in the cost-sharing negotiations. By shouldering the entire cost of decontaminating American bases, South Korea could offer an indirect rebuttal to US pressure for a hike in its cost-sharing contribution.

The US, for its part, may emphasize its North Korea monitoring and reconnaissance assets, missile defense system, and command and control automation systems, which will need to be operated until its direction until wartime operational control (OPCON) is returned to South Korea.

With four rounds of defense cost sharing negotiations taking place since September, the two sides reportedly remain significantly at odds. The US is demanding a large increase in South Korea’s share to around US$5 billion, including “new items” related to costs for rotational USFK deployment and joint military exercises. South Korea is insisting on maintaining the current agreement framework, which has it covering costs for personnel, logistical support, and military construction.

“I can’t give any specifics, but [the two sides] have been broadening their mutual understanding in some respects,” a government official explained.

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter

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