US accepts plan for S. Korea to assist in personnel costs for Korean USFK employees

Posted on : 2020-06-04 18:31 KST Modified on : 2020-06-04 18:31 KST
Seoul to foot US$200 million to allow 4,000 employees to return to work
Civic groups condemn US Forces Korea putting its South Korean employees on unpaid furlough in front of the US Embassy in Seoul on Mar. 31. (Park Jong-shik, staff photographer)
Civic groups condemn US Forces Korea putting its South Korean employees on unpaid furlough in front of the US Embassy in Seoul on Mar. 31. (Park Jong-shik, staff photographer)

The US has accepted a plan for the South Korean government to provide “prior assistance” with personnel costs for South Korean employees of US Forces Korea (USFK). With this decision, around 4,000 workers who have been furloughed since April 1 will be able to return to work.

In a statement released on June 2, the US Department of Defense said it had “accepted the Republic of Korea’s (ROK) proposal to fund the labor costs for all US Forces Korea (USFK) Korean National (KN) employees through the end of 2020.”

“Today’s decision will provide over US$200M in ROK funding for USFK’s entire KN workforce through the end of 2020,” the statement noted. Around 4,000 furloughed workers are scheduled to return to work as of June 15.

In a response, the USFK Korean Employees Union said it “welcomes the agreement to provide prior support for labor costs.”

“Now the unpaid furloughs can come to an end and [workers] can return to normal [duties],” it added.

4,000 S. Korean workers placed on unpaid furlough in April

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) also said it “welcomes” the decision by the US, adding that it “plans to work toward South Korea and the US quickly reaching an agreement in their defense cost-sharing negotiations.” Analysts attributed the sudden shift in the US’ position to the awkwardness of leaving the issue of South Korean workers’ unpaid furlough unaddressed and awareness of the souring of public opinion within South Korea.

Amid delayed progress in the negotiations for the defense cost-sharing framework for 2020, USFK placed around 4,000 of its 9,000 South Korean workers -- for whom it bears 70-80% of personnel costs under its share of defense costs -- on unpaid furlough as of April 1. In a seventh round of negotiations last March, South Korea proposed avoiding the furloughs by having the South Korean government “pay wages for the South Korean workers before a deal is reached,” but the US refused to accept it at the time.

South Korea subsequently enacted a special law to provide livelihood assistance to the furlough USFK workers, with plans to begin accepting support applications from eligible workers in August. While the South Korean government will be providing support for livelihood costs over the period between the furlough’s start in April and the employees’ return to work in June, it also plans to discuss the sharing of these costs with the US.

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter, and Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

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