US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln speaks on the foreign policy of the Joe Biden administration at the Washington State Department building on the 3rd. Washington = Reuters Yonhap News
The US State Department announced that the ROK and the United States had reached an agreement on a six-year defense cost share.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a press briefing on the 8th (local time), “The US and ROK negotiating teams have agreed on the text of a new six-year ROK-US Defense Contribution Special Agreement (SMA). This will strengthen our alliance and joint defense. I will.” In addition, he added, “The US and South Korea are working together to finalize the agreement for signing and entry into force.”
A spokeswoman for Price did not comment on the details of the agreement, including the rate of increase. However, when asked if the US demand was less stringent than the former administration of Donald Trump, he replied, “Korea is an alliance,” and “I don’t think the US will make (unreasonable) demands in the context of a close alliance and defense alliance.” . He added, “(The unreasonable demands) do not help to strengthen the fundamental alliance. We are involved in constructive negotiations in good faith, and I think we will soon find out that this is an agreement that benefits both sides.”
Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it had reached a’principal agreement’ with SMA. It is reported that the two countries have reached an agreement of 1,173.9 billion won, a 13% increase from the 1,389 billion won, which is the share of the Korean side in 2019. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “After the two sides have completed the internal reporting process, they will push forward an external announcement and nomination,” and the US State Department also explained that “a meaningful increase from the Korean side was included in the agreement.” The two countries are pushing ahead with a plan to sign an official sign on the occasion of the visits by Secretary of State Tony Blingen and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Minister Blincoln and others plan to visit Korea for two days on the 17th.
Kim Pyo-hyang reporter [email protected]
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