This was the sixth round of negotiations.
The Republic of Korea and the United States concluded the sixth round of negotiations on the sharing of the cost of maintaining the United States military contingent on the Korean peninsula without results. According to the South Korean Foreign Ministry on Thursday, the dialogue was held in Washington for two days.
“The sides managed to broaden the understanding, but it was confirmed that differences in positions continue to remain”, – the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, which did not provide any details.
The previous round of negotiations, which took place in early December, failed, as the South Korean Foreign Ministry reported then, due to excessive demands from Washington. At the same time, the head of the South Korean delegation, Jong-un Bo, expressed hope that an agreement will be reached.
Starting from 2018 Washington demands from Seoul to increase the share of contributions to the US contingent in the Republic of Korea. Thus, South Korean spending on joint defense in 2019 was increased by 8.2% to 1.04 trillion won ($915 million). In November 2019, it was reported that Washington demanded that Seoul increase its contributions almost fivefold, to $4.7 billion. It was also noted that the United States insisted that South Korea pay the cost of maintaining a number of units of the United States military and outside the Korean peninsula.
The United States troops have been in South Korea since the Korean War (1950-1953). Their conditions of stay are governed by the agreement on mutual defence assistance signed by the two countries on 26 January 1950.