hankyoreh

Jang Won-sam of the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Timothy Betts of the US State Department initial a draft of the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) on defense cost-sharing on Feb. 10. (provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

With South Korea and the US’ defense cost-sharing negotiations set to begin as early as September, South Korea is mulling the option of appointing someone who is not a member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to lead the negotiations. According to multiple sources in the government who spoke with the Hankyoreh on Sept. 6, the Blue House is conducting its final review of candidates recommended by related ministries, a list that reportedly includes a former senior official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The selection of a former Finance Ministry official to represent South Korea in its negotiations for the 11th Special Measures Agreement, as the defense cost-sharing agreement is called, would be a major departure from precedent. Since the negotiations for the series of agreements, which last from between one and five years, first began in 1991, South Korea’s chief negotiators have always been from either the Foreign Ministry or the Ministry of National Defense. Defense Ministry officials were in charge of negotiations during the first five versions of the agreement, from 1991 to 2004, while Foreign Ministry officials took over those duties from the sixth version of the agreement, which took effect in 2005, until the 10th, last year.

A first-time appointment of someone from the Finance Ministry would likely be aimed at mounting a tougher opposition to the US’ demands for a huge hike in South Korea’s financial contribution to defense. US President Donald Trump has publicly pressured South Korea to greatly increase the amount it pays for defense, declaring that the US will only accept a contribution that has been raised to a reasonable and fair level. The government also seems determined to hire a budgetary expert to meticulously assess the legitimacy of the American financial demands, since the negotiations are likely to be challenging, given the potential strain on the national budget.

The government hasn’t made its final decision about who will lead the defense cost-sharing negotiations, and it’s expected to announce its final decision shortly before the first round of negotiations begin. The US is expected to choose someone from the State Department to head its negotiating team, though it hasn’t officially notified South Korea of its choice.

But whereas Japan’s contribution to the defense cost is determined on an item-by-item basis, South Korean and American negotiators have to decide on the total amount. Given that, the chief negotiator needs to have the knack for making political decisions, experts say.

The US has claimed that maintaining American military bases costs US$5 billion a year in direct and indirect costs, and has told Seoul that it wants South Korea to increase its share of the burden as much as possible. This year, South Korea’s defense contribution amounted to 1.04 trillion won (US$872.19 million). According to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which provides the legal framework for US Forces Korea, and the cost-sharing agreement, South Korea is responsible for covering the cost of South Koreans employed by the American army (in cash), military supplies (in kind), and military construction (in cash and in kind).

But the amount currently being requested by the US appears to envision cash payments and troop deployments that go far beyond what appears in current agreements, including the cost of deploying strategic assets, conducting joint exercises, carrying out navigation exercises in the South China Sea, and setting up a coalition to patrol the Strait of Hormuz. The South Korean negotiating team will likely have to analyze the US’ overall strategy in East Asia as it prepares for the negotiations.

In a related story, Vincent Brooks, former commander of ROK-US Combined Forces Command, told the Voice of America (VOA) in an interview on Sept. 2 that the US request goes beyond the defense cost-sharing negotiations and signifies an expanding role for the “Indo-Pacific Strategy” in the regional alliance. Brooks went on to say that the situation demands a change in the South Korea-US alliance strategy, which has traditionally been focused on deterrence against North Korea on the Korean Peninsula.

Brooks added that the South Korean government would ultimately have to make a political decision about whether to decouple the North Korean threat from the issue of China, while acknowledging that it was impossible to predict what decision Seoul would end up making.

While no specific schedule has been confirmed, both South Korea and the US are expected to begin moving after the Chuseok holiday. Timothy Betts, head of defense cost-sharing negotiations at the US State Department, met with Jang Won-sam, his counterpart at the South Korean Foreign Ministry, in Seoul on Aug. 20 and agreed to kick off the negotiations soon.

By Park Min-hee, staff reporter

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