South Korea and the United States struck a deal Wednesday to increase Seoul's share of the cost of maintaining U.S. troops here by 6.6 percent, the Foreign Ministry said.
South Korea will contribute a total of 725.5 billion won (US$780 million) next year alone, up 45.1 billion won from this year, the ministry added.
South Korea also agreed to hike its contribution in 2008 in line with inflation under the two-year contract inked after six rounds of negotiations.
The government is required to receive approval for the deal from the National Assembly by the end of this year.
"The results of the negotiations this time would not fully satisfy either side, but those are regarded as the most reasonable based on the spirit of the South Korea-U.S. alliance," the ministry sid in a press release.
Roughly 30,000 U.S. troops are stationed in the country as a legacy of the Korean War, which ended in 1953 with a ceasefire rather than a peace treaty. Washington plans to scale back the number to around 25,000 by 2008 as part of its global troop realignment plan.
Officials here said the rise was inevitable, given the job security of South Korean employees at U.S. military bases.
The United States Forces Korea (USFK) has argued that it would be forced to cut the number of local staff unless Seoul raises its share.
"This agreement is a kind of transitional one," a ranking Foreign Ministry official said in a background briefing for the media. "The two sides agreed to begin a joint study to draw up a more stable, transparent and fairer method of sharing the burden."
The official, requesting anonymity, said this year's talks were very tough as the U.S. called for a sharp hike in Seoul's share.
But South Korea asked the U.S. to take into account the scheduled U.S. troop cut, Seoul's burden for the relocation of U.S. military bases and its financial capability.
South Korea began directly contributing funds for the troop stationing in 1991, when it paid US$150 million, and its share rose steadily until 2005. Seoul reduced its year-on-year contributions by 8.9 percent to 680.4 billion won that same year.
The two sides held their latest negotiations on the issue last week, but failed to produce an agreement.
Wednesday's deal was reached through telephone talks between their chief negotiators.
Seoul, Dec. 7 (Yonhap News)
Seoul's contribution to upkeep of USFK to rise 6.6 percent |
