South Korea and the United States will hold another round of negotiations on the division of the cost of maintaining the American contingent on the Korean Peninsula on January 14-15 in Washington. This was reported by the South Korean Foreign Ministry.
The previous meeting of delegations of both sides was held in Seoul on December 17-18. This was the last round of negotiations before the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) ended on December 31.
" The government expects that negotiations will be carried out in the direction of strengthening the defense readiness of the US-South Korea alliance, "
The representative of the South Korean side in the negotiations is the former Deputy Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Chon Un-Bo. US Department of State Representative James Dehart. Earlier - in September, October and November - another three rounds of negotiations were held..
Earlier it was reported that the Republic of Korea could send troops in early 2020 to participate in the US-led operation to protect freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
Such a decision is seen as a compromise instead of a sharp increase in the share of South Korea in US spending on the defense of the Korean Peninsula..
The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan said on Monday that the government is considering "
Since 1991, the Republic of Korea has reimbursed Washington under a special agreement for part of the cost of maintaining the US military in South Korea.. Payments in 2019 amounted to $ 870 million.