Yonhap reported that the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) negotiations will take place in Seoul from June 25 to 27, chaired by Lee Tae-woo, chief negotiator for South Korea, and Linda Specht, chief negotiator for the United States. The upcoming talks come about two weeks after they held their third round of talks in Washington.
The US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt arrives at a naval base in Busan (southeast of South Korea) on June 22.
"We plan to conduct negotiations based on the view that our share of defense costs must be at a reasonable level to create an environment for the stable stationing of U.S. forces in Korea and strengthen the Korea-U.S. joint defense posture," a South Korean Foreign Ministry official said.
South Korea and the United States launched the talks earlier than expected in April to avoid tough bargaining with Washington in the event of former President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. The two sides had argued over cost-sharing in previous negotiations under Trump, as Washington had demanded a fivefold increase in Seoul’s payment to $5 billion.
Under the latest SMA, South Korea agreed to increase its payments by 13.9 percent to $1.03 billion for 2021 and increase its payments annually for the next four years to match Seoul’s increased defense spending. In the early 1990s, South Korea also shared the burden of U.S. troop deployment costs to fund local labor, construction of military facilities, and other logistical support.
North Korea warns of new deterrence
North Korea on Tuesday condemned the United States for sending a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to the Korean Peninsula, warning it was ready to take “new and powerful” deterrent measures against such a provocation. North Korean Vice Defense Minister Kim Kang-il criticized Washington and Seoul for playing a “very dangerous” game of flexing their muscles, according to the official KCNA news agency.
The US Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt arrived at Busan Naval Base in South Korea on June 22 to participate in a joint military exercise, demonstrating the strong joint defense posture of the US-South Korea alliance to better cope with threats, the South Korean Navy announced.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt arrived in South Korea about seven months after another US aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, also arrived in the country.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/han-quoc-my-dam-phan-chia-se-chi-phi-quoc-phong-trieu-tien-canh-bao-moi-185240624210245054.htm
Comment (0)