U.S. DEMAND OF SHARED DEFENSE COST

[Anchor Lead]

The United States demanded Korea to pay five billion dollars for next year's shared defense cost, a five-fold increase from just a year ago. The sum reportedly includes the operation cost of American strategic assets, that can be brought over to Korea from outside the Korean Peninsula. Meanwhile, the South Korean political circle blasted the demand, calling it an excessive amount that violates the spirit of alliance.

[Pkg]

Assistant Secretary of State David Stillwell and James DeHart, the American chief negotiator for defense cost-sharing talks, have upped Korea's contribution to next year's defense cost to five billion won. The amount is more than the total cost of keeping U.S. forces in Korea. The figure allegedly includes the operation cost of American strategic assets that can be deployed from Guam and Okinawa in case of crisis on the Peninsula. These items do not fall under the original purpose of the defense cost sharing program, which is to subsidize the cost of stationing American troops in Korea.

[Soundbite] KANG KYUNG-WHA(S. KOREAN FOREIGN MINISTER(NAT'L ASSEMBLY FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND UNIFICATION COMMITTEE)) : "It is true that the U.S. is talking about several factors that are outside the framework of the usual SMA negotiations."

Stillwell and DeHart reportedly visited Cheong Wa Dae, the National Assembly, and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and National Defense to deliver Washington's demand and assess Seoul's reactions. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle blasted the demand as excessive and unfair and maintained that the Korean people would not agree with the increase.

[Soundbite] LEE SEOK-HYUN(DEMOCRATIC PARTY(NAT'L ASSEMBLY FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND UNIFICATION COMMITTEE)) : "This requires parliamentary ratification, but all lawmakers oppose the five-fold increase. Even as a ruling party member, I agree with them, and I don't intend to ratify this."

[Soundbite] YOON SANG-HYUN(LIBERTY KOREA PARTY(NAT'L ASSEMBLY FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND UNIFICATION COMMITTEE)) : "Koreans believe that such demand would turn the ROK-US alliance into a business deal and the American troops in Korea into mercenaries."

Parliamentary members also pointed out that the renegotiation cycle, which was suddenly shortened to one year earlier this year, should be lengthened to three or five years.