SEOUL — Still millions of dollars apart, U.S. and South Korean negotiators will meet Tuesday for the fifth round of talks aimed at cementing how much South Korea will contribute this year to support U.S. troops stationed here.
According to the Ministry of National Defense, the one-day meeting will be held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Seoul, pointing to a U.S. troop reduction and its own contributions in Iraq and Afghanistan, wants to contribute less direct support than it did last year.
In 2004, South Korea paid $623 million in direct contributions, U.S. and South Korean officials have said. In 1991, when the cost-sharing program began, South Korea contributed $150 million.
Under the Special Measures Agreement covering the 2002-04 period, South Korean government support equaled some 40 percent of the non-personnel costs of stationing U.S. forces in South Korea, Gen. Leon J. LaPorte, U.S. Forces Korea commander, said last week.
In Senate Armed Services Committee testimony, LaPorte characterized South Korea as “a dependable ally and friend in the global war on terrorism and in response to international crises.”
LaPorte put South Korea’s total cost-sharing contribution at $1.162 billion, including $540 million in “indirect cost sharing.”
The South Korean side wants payments either frozen at the current level or reduced. The last round of talks was in February in Washington.
“There was progress, but differences still remain,” Kim Sook, Foreign Ministry North American Affairs Bureau director general, said afterward.
South Korea’s request hinges on a U.S. plan to reduce its presence by 12,500 troops over the next three years. Under the plan, signed in 2004, the United States last year removed 5,000 troops (including the 3,600 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division troops sent to Iraq). This year, it plans to remove 5,000 more.
