SEOUL — Senior leaders of the labor union representing South Korean workers on U.S. military bases said Monday that employees will vote this week on whether to stage a protest — not whether to strike, as earlier stated.

Korean Employees Union leader Kang In-shik said late last week that the union’s 13,000 members would vote on whether to strike in response to U.S. Forces Korea’s announcement that up to 1,000 jobs might be cut because the contribution from the Korean government to maintain U.S. troops here falls short of what is needed.

On Monday, however, Kang said union members are being asked to vote on whether they will hold a May 12 protest against USFK for possibly cutting jobs, and a June 3 protest against South Korea’s government for reducing the amount of won it pays the United States.

Last week, U.S. and South Korean officials initialed a two-year agreement that requires the South Koreans to pay 680.4 billion won (about $680 million) annually. That’s an 8.9 percent drop from 2004’s 746.9 billion won payment.

Kang said union officials will query employees in the near future on whether they will support a strike. He also said the union is moving forward on the paperwork it must submit to the National Labor Relations Commission if its employees vote to strike.

The union has hired two lawyers — one an expert in international law and another an expert on labor issues — according to officials.