Military spending sharing talks continue with U.S.-South Korea differences difficult to bridge

U.S. and South Korean officials held the fourth round of the 11th US Army Cost-sharing Agreement in the United States in Washington from the 3rd to the 4th. South Korean media expect that, given the serious differences between South Korea and the United States, it is difficult to make a breakthrough in the fourth round of negotiations.

    South Korean chief representative Zheng Enfu arrived in Washington on the 2nd, and on the 3rd, he began the fourth round of negotiations with US Chief Representative James DeHart on the cost sharing of US forces in South Korea. U.S. President Donald Trump stated his position when he attended the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in London that day that South Korea "should share its share more equitably", and whether the continued presence of US troops in South Korea is in the interests of U.S. national security remains to be discussed.

    "(Trump) always said that (South Korea) should have more (military expenses)," Zheng Enfu said when he arrived at the US State Department in preparation to meet with US representatives. "So I don't think the situation will change much." Asked by media reporters What kind of "alternative plan" the Korean side prepared, Zheng Enfu refused to answer.

    Later in the day, the reporter asked whether Zheng Enfu had discussed the possibility of withdrawing some US troops in South Korea in the morning negotiations with US representatives. He answered, "Nothing at all. (Negotiations) are going well."

    South Korea's "North Korea Daily" reported on November 21 that if the US-ROK military cost-sharing negotiations fail to meet the US requirements, the United States will consider withdrawing some troops from South Korea. The news was later denied by US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and the Pentagon.

    Many media have previously reported that the United States requires South Korea to bear about $ 5 billion in defense costs next year, which is more than five times this year, and South Korea insists that its share of share be slightly increased within the framework of the existing agreement. Officials from the two countries held a third round of military-sharing talks in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, on November 19, but the two sides broke up because of serious differences.