{"id":63616,"date":"2024-04-23T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myanmarnewsgazette.com\/?guid=e5fc029454dd866069b1eca463528c31"},"modified":"2024-04-23T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T00:00:00","slug":"u-s-seeks-fair-equitable-outcome-in-defense-cost-sharing-talks-with-s-korea-chief-negotiator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myanmarnewsgazette.com\/u-s-seeks-fair-equitable-outcome-in-defense-cost-sharing-talks-with-s-korea-chief-negotiator\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. seeks ‘fair,’ ‘equitable’ outcome in defense cost-sharing talks with S. Korea: chief negotiator"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n WASHINGTON, The United States pursues a “fair” and “equitable” outcome in the upcoming negotiations with South Korea over the sharing of the cost for the stationing of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), its chief negotiator said Monday.<\/p>\n
Linda Specht, a senior adviser and lead negotiator for security agreements at the State Department, made the remarks, as the first round of the talks over the cost-sharing deal, called the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), is set to take place from Tuesday to Thursday in Honolulu.<\/p>\n
Specht leads the U.S. delegation at the SMA talks while the South Korean delegation is to be led by Lee Tae-woo, a senior diplomat and former consul general in Sydney. The current six-year SMA is to expire at the end of next year.<\/p>\n
“The United States seeks a fair and equitable outcome to the Special Measures Agreement discussions for both countries that will strengthen and sustain the U.S.-ROK alliance,” she said in a statement sent to Yonhap News Agency. ROK stands for South Korea’s official name, the Rep
\nublic of Korea.<\/p>\n
Observers have said that Seoul and Washington have sought to resume SMA talks earlier than usual amid concerns that should former President Donald Trump be reelected, he could drive a hard bargain over a new SMA in a way that could cause friction in the alliance.<\/p>\n
During Trump’s presidency, the SMA negotiation was a major bone of contention as he demanded a hefty rise in South Korea’s share of the cost for USFK.<\/p>\n
Since 1991, Seoul has partially shouldered costs under the SMA for Korean USFK workers; the construction of military installations, such as barracks, and training, educational, operational and communications facilities; and other logistical support.<\/p>\n
Source: Yonhap News Agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON, The United States pursues a “fair” and “equitable” outcome in the upcoming negotiations with South Korea over the sharing of the cost for the stationing of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), its chief negotiator said Monday.<\/p>\n
Linda Specht, a senio…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n