S. KOREA & U.S. ON SHARED DEFENSE COST

[Anchor Lead]

South Korea and the United States have begun the negotiations on shared defense cost. President Trump has been pressuring South Korea to pay more for the upkeep of U.S. forces in Korea in order to make it one of his political achievements ahead of next year's presidential election. The first round of negotiations came to an end yesterday only to confirm the gap between the two partners over this issue. Washington was apparently in a rush, while Seoul remained rather unhurried.

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The two-day negotiations to conclude a new cost-sharing agreement for stationing U.S. forces in the nation took place in Seoul. The first round of meetings came to an end with both sides confirming their different takes on this matter. It hasn't been made public how much of a spike Washington is asking for, but it would have been quite a hefty sum as President Trump has been stressing that it has cost the U.S. six trillion won per year to station its troops in South Korea. Seoul's Foreign Ministry said after the meeting that it has decided to keep discussing the issue in a reasonable and fair manner. However, the allies seem to have different ideas about what constitutes a reasonable and fair cost-sharing scheme. Washington wants Seoul to pay more, while South Korea claims it is already covering a fair share. The U.S. also wants the negotiations to pick up speed. The current cost-sharing agreement expires in three months, but Washington is also motivated by next year's presidential election. Trump apparently wants a sizable reduction in the U.S. defense cost as one of his political achievements. The problem is that South Korea is the only negotiation partner before the election in November 2020. The pressure on Seoul to pay more is bound to be immense, since this negotiation is going to set a precedence. Meanwhile, the South Korean side appears to be in less of a hurry to meet the deadline. It's hard to wrap up the negotiations in three months, but even if they fail to conclude a new agreement by the year's end, the existing deal can be extended if that's what both sides want. South Korea stands to gain more time without suffering a huge cost increase. The allies plan to resume the talks over in the United States next month.