After eight rounds of negotiations over the past five months, South Korea has agreed with the United States to increase its share in the expenses for maintaining US troops in the country from 2026 to 2030.

History of the issue

The Special Measures Agreement (SMA) between the ROK and the United States defines the parties’ shares in the cost of maintaining 28,500 US troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula (USFK). According to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), Korea is obligated to provide bases for the US Armed Forces, while the US is responsible for the costs associated with the deployment of its troops in the country. However, in 1991, an exception was made, allowing Korea to cover certain expenses, such as the salaries of Korean employees working at US bases. Although the initial cost allocation was relatively modest, it began to increase significantly during the negotiations, surpassing 1 trillion won in 2019 and reaching 1.5 trillion won in just seven years.

During his first term, Donald Trump called for a significant increase in South Korean financial contributions to the maintenance of the USFK, which led to a long stalemate in negotiations. At one point, the Korean staff of the USFK was even forced to go on leave.

In 2020, former national security adviser John Bolton stated that Trump had threatened to withdraw US troops from South Korea if Seoul would not pay $5 billion (which is approximately five times more than previously) in accordance with the terms of the new agreement on military cooperation.

In April 2024, during an interview with the US magazine TIME, Trump called South Korea a “very rich” country and suggested that the US could withdraw its troops from South Korea if Seoul did not make more financial contributions to support them. In another campaign speech, Trump called on NATO member states to spend at least 3% of GDP on defence, called the current level of 2% the ‘theft of the century’.

Concluding the agreement and its essence

The allies began negotiations earlier than usual amid concerns that if Trump returned to the Oval Office, he could go for a tough deal that could cause tensions in the bilateral alliance.

On October 4, just over a month before the US presidential election, ROK Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and US Ambassador to South Korea........

© New Eastern Outlook