Category: US-ROK Alliance

Previous reporting has said the US and the ROK are close to a new cost sharing deal, but it has not been reached soon enough to stop the furlough of thousands of Korean employees:

Following months of warnings, the U.S. military put 4,500 South Korean base employees — about half its local workforce — on unpaid leave indefinitely Wednesday after the allies failed to agree on a new defense cost-sharing deal.

The furlough — the first of its kind — was a blow to the alliance and joint military readiness to fight on the divided peninsula, which commanders say already has been jeopardized by restrictions on movement aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

I wonder if the coronavirus test kits that South Korea has agreed to send to the U.S. had any bearing on the ongoing US-ROK cost sharing negotiations:

U.S. and South Korea are close to reaching a defense cost-sharing deal, a negotiator said Tuesday in Seoul on the eve of American military plans to put half of its local work force on unpaid leave.

U.S. Forces Korea was able to keep about 4,500 South Korean employees determined to be essential for maintaining “life, health, safety and minimum readiness.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the US-ROK cost sharing negotiations:

Korea and the United States still have gaps over the sharing of the cost for stationing the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Friday, after they wrapped up three days of hard bargaining in Los Angeles. 

The failure to reconcile their differences added to concerns that Korean workers in the USFK could be forced to go on unpaid leave starting next month, as the U.S. military has repeatedly warned of furloughs if a deal is not reached.

Seoul’s top negotiator Jeong Eun-bo and his U.S. counterpart, James DeHart, held the talks from Tuesday through Thursday to reach the cost-sharing deal, called the Special Measures Agreement (SMA). They were initially to meet for two days but extended their negotiations for another day.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the US-ROK cost sharing negotiations:

The latest push from Washington came Wednesday, after the Defense Department hinted that the cost-sharing agreement might be high on the agenda, if not the highest, in the upcoming Feb. 24 meeting between Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and his U.S. counterpart Mark Esper.

“We’ve got to work through the agreement for funding of forces, so that will obviously be a topic we will discuss,” Jonathan Hoffman, assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs, said in a press briefing. “He’s looking forward to this meeting next week.”

When asked about the holding of joint military exercises this spring, Hoffman said he had nothing to say on the matter, which some observers say indicates the U.S. is prioritizing the cost-sharing issue in the upcoming meeting above all other matters.

Washington pressured Seoul further during the press briefing by giving details on a plan to potentially furlough 9,000 Korean workers on USFK bases.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I continue to believe that nothing will get done on this until after April’s parliamentary elections. The Moon administration knows they are going to end up paying more and likely don’t want to give in on this issue until after the elections. If this is the case than the Korean workers on U.S. bases will be furloughed.

Here is something else THAAD related that will rile up leftists in South Korea:

Korean officials Friday denied that they have discussed with Washington construction fees for a base in Korea housing the U.S.-led Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) antimissile system, contradicting a 2021 U.S. Army budget proposal suggesting that the multi-million dollar budget will be covered by Korea.

The denials came in response to local media reports earlier yesterday saying that the U.S. Department of Army’s proposed budget for the 2021 fiscal year showed $49 million would be used for construction on the Thaad site in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang.

In the proposed budget, the U.S. Army described the article as “Korea funded construction,” implying that Seoul would pay. Of the total amount, $37 million was set aside for site security, lighting and weapons storage, while about $7 million was earmarked for electricity, sewers and road works.  

The budget also stated that Washington would allocate $1 billion for enhancing Thaad systems around the world, stoking fears here that the United States might pressure Seoul to partially cover some of those fees as well.

The U.S. budget proposal raised red flags in Korea because the allies agreed in 2017 – when parts for the antimissile system arrived in Seongju amid a major backlash from local residents – that Seoul would provide the land for housing Thaad, while Washington covered other costs of deployment.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but why don’t the leftists get this worked up about the Patriot missile batteries spread out all around South Korea? I already explained the answer to that one at this link.

It figures that Korean leftists would be upset the United States military is working on a way to better defend their country:

Korea is back in the hot seat as the U.S. military has announced plans to improve its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) batteries including the one here. 

As the upgrade is focused on extending the range of its defense area, the plan is raising speculations that the launchers may be transferred to Seoul or its surrounding areas, or that additional launchers may be deployed, which may reignite disputes with China over the anti-missile system. A report has also sparked concerns that the U.S. may push Korea to fund the construction of the THAAD base, which could run counter to the allies’ agreement on the issue.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but what is going on here is that the THAAD system’s launchers are hardwired into the rest of the system. What the update will provide is the ability to remote launchers further out away from the rest of the battery wirelessly. What this does is extend the area a THAAD battery can defend.

This is technology that the Patriot missile defense system already has and is only natural that THAAD would eventually develop this technology as well. There are Patriot missile batteries spread out all over South Korea that receive technology updates, but only the THAAD system continues to be continuously protested by the Korean left. Part of this is because former President Park Geun-hye approved the deployment of the battery; to a Korean leftist that means it must be a bad decision.

The second part of this is the China who does not like the deployment of the system. They claim it spies on them which is nonsense, they just use the issue to create a wedge between the U.S. and the ROK. The Moon administration may be calculating that if their supporters keep up their THAAD protests, President Trump will redeploy the system which solves their China problem and is another erasing of a major accomplishment during the former Park administration.

This will cause South Korea to have less ballistic missile defense protection, but to the Korean left they have never looked at North Korea as a threat anyway.

Whatever the Blue House is trying to do with the GSOMIA that have not briefed Ambassador Harris on it apparently:

U.S. Ambassador to Korea Harry Harris said he was unaware of renewed talk in the Korean government about the possibility of scrapping a bilateral military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan known as Gsomia, but he stressed that the American position remains that the agreement is “important.” 

Sitting down with JoongAng Ilbo reporters and a video crew after a tour of his residence, Habib House, Ambassador Harris said, “[Gsomia] is a bilateral agreement between Korea and Japan, and the challenges they have – they have to work out.”

In an exclusive report on Monday, the JoongAng Ilbo reported that a hard-line stance in favor of terminating Gsomia was gaining momentum in the Blue House, citing a government source familiar with Korea-Japan ties. 

Terminating Gsomia, short for General Security of Military Information Agreement, continues to be Seoul’s most powerful trump card in negotiations with Tokyo as the two neighboring countries remain stuck in a diplomatic and trade spat over Japan’s use of Korean forced labor during World War II. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

I don’t think a cost sharing agreement getting done until after the parliamentary elections in April. The ROK will end up paying more and they would likely rather pay more after the election. It would not look good going into an election and having the appearance of backing down to the U.S. on the cost sharing issue. In the meantime the Korean national employees on U.S. bases will be out of work beginning April 1st:

Yi Myong Hwa, who has worked for the U.S. military for nearly half her life, has been getting headaches and wakes up these days to a feeling of dread.

Yi is one of some 9,000 South Korean employees who received notice late last month that they may be forced to take unpaid leave beginning on April 1 if the United States and South Korea fail to agree on a new defense cost-sharing agreement.

“The furlough notice hit us like a bolt of lightning,” the 46-year-old fire department dispatcher told Stars and Stripes in a recent interview at her office at Camp Casey, the closest U.S. base to the border with North Korea.

“Korean employees have been working for U.S. troops and the security of the United States and South Korea,” she said. “It’s outrageous that we’re being used as a bargaining chip.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the status of US-ROK cost sharing talks:

 Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Thursday that South Korea and the United States still have “big” gaps in their negotiations over Seoul’s share of the cost for stationing American troops here despite a broadening of “mutual understanding.”

Her remarks came as the two countries are preparing for the seventh round of negotiations expected to take place in Seoul this month to determine Korea’s payments for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea under the cost-sharing deal, called the Special Measures Agreement (SMA). 

“Though gaps are still big, the two countries have deepened mutual understanding much more, and we are in a situation where we have to make an agreement based on that understanding,” Kang said in a press briefing.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I don’t see this getting done before the April parliamentary elections in Korea. In whatever deal that is reached it is pretty clear that Korea is going to end up paying more and that won’t look good politically for the Moon administration. It makes sense for them to wait until after the April elections to make a deal.