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Blue House National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong (right) talks with Liberty Korea Party floor leader Na Kyung-won at the National Assembly on Jan. 15. (Yonhap News)
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US makes unacceptable demands during final stages of negotiation
Blue House National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong said on Jan. 15 that currently deadlocked talks with the US on the two sides’ respective shares of defense costs “are experiencing difficulties because of the two sides’ positions, and moreover because the US suddenly demanded conditions that are utterly unacceptable to us during the final stages of the negotiations.” At the same time, Chung asserted, “I believe a rational compromise can be reached that will satisfy both sides through dialogue as allies.” Speaking to reporters after a meeting at the National Assembly that afternoon with Liberty Korea Party (LKP) floor leader Na Kyung-won, Chung said, “Negotiations on the sharing of defense costs is not a matter that requires heads of state to participate in negotiations.” “I think a compromise can certainly be reached at a lower level,” he said. In his closed-door meeting that day, Chung reportedly explained that the two sides were experiencing difficulties after the US recently began demanding that South Korea’s share of defense costs be raised to an “unacceptable” level. He was also quoted as asking the National Assembly to hold a meeting of its Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee and produce a resolution urging swift negotiations as a way of reaching common ground in the talks. Trump demands S. Korea’s share increased by 1.5 fold Over the course of ten rounds of negotiations on South Korea-US defense cost sharing through last year, the two sides have failed to bridge their differences, with US President Donald Trump insisting on increasing South Korea’s share by 1.5 times from its current 960 billion won (US$857.22 million) to 1.4 trillion won (US$1.25 billion), sources reported. The previously pledged deadline for the talks elapsed at the end of last year. Chung’s visit to the opposition leadership was his first in the 19 months since his May 2017 visits to the ruling and opposition party leaders after being appointed NSO director. After his meeting with Na, he reportedly took part in a closed-door party-government meeting with Democratic Party lawmakers on the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee and National Defense Committee, where he explained the situation with the defense cost-sharing talks and asked for the National Assembly’s cooperation. The LKP expressed skepticism over the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee resolution requested by Chung. In a telephone interview with the Hankyoreh, LKP senior deputy floor leader Cheong Yang-seog said, “It seems difficult to have a ‘one-point’ standing committee meeting for the defense cost-sharing talks alone when we have other matters at hand such as the Blue House’s unusual inspections of Foreign Ministry employees.” By Kim Mi-na and Lee Jung-ae, staff reporters Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
