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| U.S. Defense Minister Lloyd Austin is present at the Senate Military Commission’s approval hearing on the 19th (local time) and speaks. © AFP=News1 |
With the official launch of the US administration, Joe Biden, appointee of the US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, is noted for saying that he will close the SMA issue with Korea in a short time.
It is expected that the US-Korea SMA negotiations, which have been drifting for a long time due to President Donald Trump’s strong pressure to raise defense costs, can be concluded at a’reasonable level of increase’.
According to Reuters news agency on the 19th (local time), the Austin nominee responded in writing to the Senate Military Committee of the United States Congress ahead of the approval hearing. We will focus on the modernization of the alliance in the Pacific region, and as part of this effort, we will pursue an early settlement of the cost-sharing negotiations with Korea.”
Korea and the United States had to sign the 11th SMA to determine the defense cost share from 2020, but the agreement has not been reached for a year. The Korean government has proposed a 13% increase from the 1,389 trillion won contribution in 2019, but the Trump administration is known to have refused to demand a 50% increase.
Due to the lack of support in Korea-US defense cost negotiations, last year, more than 4,000 Korean workers in the US Forces Korea were left unpaid.
The Austin nominee did not specifically mention the plan and the amount of increase in defense cost negotiations with South Korea on that day. However, in light of the content of the remarks, it is read that the intention to enter into negotiations as soon as possible after the new administration was launched.
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| US President-elect Joe Biden gives a farewell speech at Newcastle Airport, Delaware, before leaving for Washington for the inauguration ceremony on the 19th (local time). © AFP=News1 © News1 Reporter Dongmyeong Woo |
The share of defense costs refers to the Korean government’s financial support for the cost of stationing US forces in Korea. Through SMA, the size of the contribution is determined and execution is carried out every year. Specific items include △labor costs for Korean workers of the USFK, △military construction costs and △logistics support costs.
SMA has been signed a total of 10 times from 1991 to 2019. The ROK-US authorities have conducted official negotiations seven times since July 2019 for the 11th SMA discussion, but failed to reach an agreement due to disagreements over the width of the increase.
Unlike the previous administration that made unreasonable demands, there is an expectation that the Biden administration will propose a reasonable level of increase. This is because President-elect Biden defined President Trump’s pressure to raise the defense cost share as “alliance extortion,” and emphasized the US’ global leadership and the restoration of damaged alliances.
Looking at the SMA in the past, the increase rate compared to the previous year was △8th (2009) 2.5% △9th (2014) 5.8% △10th (2019) 8.2%.
However, experts point out that the expectation that the Biden administration will make major concessions in defense cost negotiations is a mistake. This is because the need to share security costs by allies in the region is in the position of both Democrats and Republicans amid the intensifying competition between the US and China in Northeast Asia and Asia Pacific.
“Defense negotiations are more difficult when the US Democratic Party is in power or the majority party,” said Park Won-gon, a professor at Handong University’s Department of International Affairs. “It is optimistic that the Democratic Party government is more sensitive to the cost issue.” “I look forward to it.”
Kim Jeong-seop, a senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute, who served as the head of the planning and coordination department of the Ministry of National Defense, said in a recent article on’Issues and Tasks of the Defense Contribution Negotiation’, “Amid the difficulties of the domestic economy and the anxiety that the gap in national power with China is narrowing, the US is increasingly protecting its allies We will emphasize cost sharing,” he said. “So, the Korean government should engage in negotiations with the US to share defense costs based on a meticulous logic and macro perspective.”
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