Allies name chief negotiators for cost-sharing talks amid Trump reelection fears

Defense

Published: 05 Mar. 2024, 15:41

Allies name chief negotiators for cost-sharing talks amid Trump reelection fears

Former consul general in Sydney Lee Tae-woo, who was named the head negotiator for the upcoming 12th Special Measures Agreement (SMA), speaks to the press at the Foreign Ministry building in Jongno District on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

South Korea and the United States named each country’s chief negotiators for the upcoming talks between the two countries on sharing the costs of keeping U.S. troops in Korea.

The Foreign Ministry in Seoul on Tuesday named Lee Tae-woo, a career diplomat and former consul general in Sydney, to head the South Korean side of the 12th Special Measures Agreement (SMA). Senior Advisor and U.S. Lead Negotiator for Security Agreements in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs Linda Specht will lead the U.S. delegation.

The two countries have yet to specify when the SMA negotiations will begin.

The most recent 11th SMA was concluded in April 2021, which applies for six years from 2020 to 2025.

For the two allies to begin negotiations for the next SMA with nearly two years left in the previous SMA is unusual. The move may reflect concerns regarding the potential re-election of former U.S. President Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election in November.

Trump initially demanded a fivefold hike in Seoul's contribution, much to Korea's dismay. The 11th SMA was finally sealed during the Joe Biden administration.

Lee has held several positions specializing in North American and North Korean affairs.

Lee was the director-general of the Foreign Ministry's North Korean nuclear affairs office before taking on his most recent role as consul general. Lee was also a counselor at the South Korean Embassy in Washington.

"Although we have a heavy responsibility on our shoulders, we will do our best to achieve a reasonable level of defense cost-sharing through future negotiations to provide stable housing conditions for U.S. troops stationed in Korea, an important pillar of the South Korea-U.S. joint defense posture," Lee said Tuesday.

The South Korean delegation, led by Lee, will include “representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and all relevant authorities,” according to the Foreign Ministry.

During the 11th SMA negotiations conducted during the Moon Jae-in administration, an economic bureaucrat, Jeong Eun-bo, former vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, served as South Korea’s head negotiator.

In the previous defense cost-sharing negotiations, the first five SMAs were headed by figures from the Defense Ministry, while Foreign Ministry officials led the sixth to tenth rounds — the appointment of Jeong for the 11th SMA was considered very unusual.

A career diplomat is once again leading this 12th SMA with Tuesday’s announcement of Lee's appointment.

Since 1991, Seoul and Washington have conducted regular SMA negotiations under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) to decide on Korea’s financial contribution to stationing U.S. troops in the country, usually striking multi-year deals.

In the 11th SMA, South Korea agreed to pay 1.1833 trillion won ($1.059 billion) in 2021, a 13.9 percent increase from 2019, for the upkeep of some 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea. Seoul has been paying more since 2022 at a rate that mirrors increases in South Korea’s own defense spending compared to previous years.

Korea’s cost-sharing contribution has increased 40 percent over the past decade, with Seoul paying 790.4 billion won in 2010. The 13.9 percent increase in 2021 was the first double-digit hike.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]