The parties are currently consulting via e-mail and telephone.
Representatives of the Republic of Korea and the United States are considering the possibility of further negotiations on joint defense expenditures via videoconference due to the spread of a new type of coronavirus in both countries. A representative of the South Korean Foreign Ministry told the KBS TV channel on Tuesday.
According to him, the parties are currently holding consultations by e-mail and phone. Authorities of both countries recommend their citizens to avoid personal contacts as much as possible.
The two sides held another round of talks in Los Angeles last week, but failed to reach a compromise on Seoul’s share of spending on U.S. troops stationed in the Korean peninsula. The US insisted on quadrupling South Korean spending to $4 billion a year. Seoul considers this amount unrealistically inflated.
From 2018, Washington demands that Seoul increase its share of contributions to the US contingent in the Republic of Korea. South Korea’s joint defense spending in 2019 was increased by 8.2% to 1.04 trillion won ($915 million).