U.S.-South Korea Talks Heat Up Over Military Funds

The Fourth Round of Consultations on the 12th U.S.-ROK Special Measures Agreement(SMA) will be held in Seoul from the 25th to the 27th.

A South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs official stated on the 24th, “We plan to proceed with the negotiations under the position that ROK defense cost sharing should be at a reasonable level to secure stable conditions for the U.S. forces stationed in South Korea and to strengthen the ROK-U.S. combined defense posture.”

The attendees of this meeting are Representative for Defense Burden Sharing Lee Tae Woo, officials from the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Planning and Finance, and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration from the ROK side, and Senior Advisor Specht and officials from the State Department, the Defense Department, and the U.S. Forces Korea from the U.S. side.

The SMA agreement determines the amount the ROK will bear for the cost of stationing U.S. forces. Our share includes the cost of personnel, military construction, and logistics support.

The results of the 12th SMA negotiation meeting will be applied from 2026.

Previously, the ROK and the U.S. held the first, second, and third meetings in Hawaii from April 23rd to 25th, Seoul from last month’s 21st to 23rd, and Washington from the 10th to 12th of this month.