NEGOTIATIONS on defense cost sharing between South Korea and the United States kicked off in Hawaii this week.
The second round of talks started on Tuesday and ended on Thursday.
The three-day meeting will determine how much South Korea should shoulder for keeping at least 28,500 U.S. Forces stationed in the country starting in 2026.
Consultations on reasonable defense cost sharing between the two countries will be the focus of the talks.
The first round of talks also took place in Hawaii last month.
South Korea expects that the new agreement should come at a reasonable level while the US Embassy in Seoul said the contributions serve as a “powerful investment” in U.S.-South Korea relations.
Under the current Special Measures Agreement or SMA, South Korea agreed to raise the payment for the deployment of American troops in the country by 13.9 percent from 2019 to $1.03 billion for 2021.
The current six-year agreement is due to expire in 2025 and is claimed to protect the country from neighboring North Korea.
Both sides scramble to discuss the cost-sharing deal despite the agreement not expiring until 20 months from now ahead of the potential return of former U.S. President Donald Trump to the White House after the November 2024 elections.
Under Trump’s presidency, Washington demanded that South Korea pay more than a fivefold increase of $5 billion to keep American troops stationed in the country.
The U.S. military has maintained a strong presence in South Korea since the end of the Korean War. Approximately 28,500 American troops are currently stationed in the East Asian nation.
