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The first round of negotiations for the 11th Special Measures Agreement take place in Seoul on Sept. 24. (provided by the Foreign Ministry)

Teams of negotiators from South Korea and the US wrapped up their first meeting on Sept. 25 as they work to update the agreement that defines how much South Korea contributes to the cost of keeping US troops on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on Wednesday that the first round of negotiations for the 11th Special Measures Agreement was held at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, in Seoul’s Dongdaemun District, on Sept. 24-25. Over those two days, the Foreign Ministry said, the two countries’ delegations “shared their respective positions about defense cost-sharing and held a more detailed discussion.”

Considering that the previous 10th Special Measures Agreement is only valid for one year and will be concluding at the end of this year, the two delegations agreed to hold their next round of meetings in the US next month. The exact schedule of the next round of negotiations “will be decided through future deliberations in diplomatic channels,” the Foreign Ministry said.

The Foreign Ministry didn’t specify what was discussed during the talks. But since the two sides spent a considerable amount of time on their deliberations — which lasted from 10 am to 4:30 pm on the first day and continued into the second day — many think the negotiators got into the details. It appears that the two sides provided each other with the amount they believe is appropriate for South Korea to pay and documents supporting that argument and then exchanged opinions about that.

In a document issued after the meeting, the Foreign Ministry said that the two sides had “agreed to continue their deliberations aimed at fair and reasonable cost-sharing based on mutual respect and trust as allies amid a new dynamic negotiating environment.” Those remarks make it likely that the South Korean negotiating team explained in detail how the South Korean government has contributed to its alliance with the US and to the stability of the American troop presence and asserted that the major increase in funding that the US wants isn’t feasible. The US is reportedly asking South Korea to greatly increase its share of the defense burden, arguing that the direct and indirect costs of operating US Forces Korea (USFK) come to about US$5 billion a year.

“South Korea and the US are in agreement that our alliance is more robust than ever before and concluded that the previous cost-sharing negotiations were conducted under the shared goal of strengthening and developing that alliance,” the Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday.

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter

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