Advertisement
South Korea and US to share costs of troops after ‘in principle’ deal for Seoul to contribute US$1 billion
- The 2014 deal that expired last year required Seoul to pay about US$848 million a year for keeping some 28,500 US troops in South Korea
- The allies had appeared unable to strike an accord to renew the deal despite 10 rounds of talks since March
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
The United States and South Korea have reached an agreement “in principle” on sharing the cost of stationing US troops in the Asian country, the State Department said on Monday.
Advertisement
“The United States and the Republic of Korea have reached an agreement in principle on a new Special Measures Agreement,” a spokeswoman said. “Both sides are committed to working out remaining technical issues as quickly as possible.”
CNN quoted an State Department official as saying that under the revised agreement, South Korea would boost its financial contribution to nearly US$1 billion.
The 2014 deal that expired last year required Seoul to pay about 960 billion won (US$848 million) a year for keeping some 28,500 US troops in South Korea. The allies had appeared unable to strike an accord to renew the deal despite 10 rounds of talks since March.
Advertisement
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that South Korea, where the US has stationed soldiers since the 1950-53 Korean war, should bear more of the cost.
Advertisement