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Democratic Party floor leader Hong Young-pyo speaks during a policy meeting at the National Assembly on Jan. 7. (Kim Gyoung-ho, staff photographer)
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Provisional special agreement may be signed as early as this weekend
It is believed that the South Korean government has negotiated a deal with the US government under which the former will contribute 1.04 trillion won (US$925.4 billion) per year towards the cost of stationing the United States Forces Korea (USFK). This was revealed when Blue House National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong met with lawmakers, including Democratic Party of Korea floor leader Hong Young-pyo, on Feb. 7 to explain the outcome of the negotiations with the US. After meeting with the leadership of the Democratic Party, Chung spoke with the press and stated, “The ruling party will need to be consulted on some aspects of the negotiations on the sharing of defense costs, so I gave them an update on recent progress and discussed plans for cooperation with the National Assembly moving forward.” Chung explained that agreement on the sharing of defense costs is imminent, and asked for cooperation in pushing the bill to ratify the agreement through the National Assembly. “President Trump had demanded 1.2 billion dollars, but White House staff and even the US House of Representatives thought that this would be an excessive increase,” he said. “Thanks to hard work by our government, the hike in Korea’s share of defense costs was set at 8.2%, the same as our increase in defense expenditure.” In a phone call with the Hankyoreh on the same day, an official from the Democratic Party of Korea said, “Chung told us the figure had been set at 1.38 trillion won, and that a provisional agreement would be signed within a week.” The agreement can be interpreted as a compromise between the US position, which sought a one-year agreement with an annual contribution of US$1 billion and the South Korean position, which sought an agreement period of three to five years with an annual contribution of less than US$890.4 million. It appears that the provisional special agreement may be signed by the two nations as early as this weekend. Earlier that morning, Lee Soo-hyeok, the Democratic Party representative to the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, spoke about the issue in a national policy coordination meeting. “A compromise has been reached in the negotiations on sharing defense costs,” Lee said. “A decision has first been made on Korea’s contribution for this year, and once the provisional agreement is signed, we plan to carry out the internal government procedures between February and March and submit the bill for deliberation in the National Assembly in mid-April.” Once a special agreement is signed based on the final agreement between Korea and the US, it will be subject to screening from the Legislative Office and deliberation in a Cabinet meeting. After being approved by the president, it will then come into effect upon being ratified through a plenary session of the National Assembly. The Liberty Korea Party (LKP) expressed concern over the shortening of the agreement period from five years to one. In a phone interview with the Hankyoreh, Yoon Yeong-seok, the party’s chief spokesperson, stated “If the US seeks to increase Korea’s share of defense costs a year from now, both countries will once again be pitted against each other at the negotiating table, which could lead to severe cracks in the KORUS alliance. During the remaining negotiation period, the Moon administration should focus its efforts on having the five-year agreement period reinstated.” By Kim Tae-gyu and Lee Kyung-mi, staff reporters Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
