[정치]Korea and the United States, talks about’prepaid wages’ for Korean workers in the US Army in Korea…

[정치]Korea and the United States, talks about’prepaid wages’ for Korean workers in the US Army in Korea…

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[앵커]

It has been confirmed that the ROK-US defense cost negotiations have continued to stalemate over another year, and it has been confirmed that the ROK and the United States are discussing a plan to pre-pay labor costs to prevent unpaid leave for Korean workers in the USFK.

After the inauguration of the Biden government this month, attention is focused on whether the negotiations between the two countries will accelerate.

Reporter Lee Seung-yoon on the report.

[기자]

There are 8,000 Korean workers in the USFK,

As the negotiations over the US-Korea defense cost share are over again, they are again concerned about their unpaid leave.

Accordingly, the ROK and the United States are discussing a plan to pay the labor costs of these Korean workers first.

[부승찬 / 국방부 대변인 : 현재까지 국방부에서 말씀드릴 수 있는 것은 한미 국방당국이 주한미군 한국인 근로자의 고용 안정을 위해 긴밀히 협의하고 있다는 것입니다.]

Last year, the US-Korea working level came up with a provisional agreement to increase the defense cost share by 13%.

US President Trump’s refusal has put a protracted negotiation deadlock.

Since then, Korean workers in the USFK have entered unpaid leave from April last year.

In the end, the situation was ended with the Korean government prepaying 200 billion won in labor costs by the end of the year.

[최응식 / 주한미군한국인노조 위원장(지난해 4월) : 실질적으로 저희가 휴직 수당을 받을 수 없고 아무런 대책이 없습니다. 또 코로나19로 인해서 우리 직원들이 바깥에서 아르바이트나 일용직이나 어떤 일자리도 구하기 힘듭니다.]

The ROK and the United States held video consultations for the first time since the US presidential election in November last year, but reaffirmed the principle of’cooperating for an immediate agreement’.

Accordingly, it is expected that negotiations on defense costs will accelerate only after the Biden administration officially launched on the 20th.

If the biden government, which puts an emphasis on alliances, is launched, it is predicted that the Korea-US defense cost negotiations will be concluded in a reasonable manner, but a considerable tug of war is expected in the process.

YTN Seungyoon Lee[[email protected]]is.

[저작권자(c) YTN & YTN plus 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]

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