South Korea and the US have begun the fourth round of negotiations Tuesday on sharing the cost for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea (USFK).
The three-day talks in Seoul will be led by Lee Tae-woo, South Korea's chief negotiator for the talks, and Linda Specht, the US lead negotiator for security agreements at the State Department, the South Korean News Agency (Yonhap) reported.
The talks come about two weeks after they held the third round on the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) in Washington, Yonhap added.
The current six-year SMA, due to expire at the end of next year, committed South Korea to paying $1.03 billion for 2021, a 13.9% increase from 2019, and increasing the payment every year for the subsequent four years in line with the rise in Seoul's defense spending.
Since 1991, Seoul has partially shared the cost for Korean USFK workers; the construction of military installations, such as barracks, as well as training, educational, operational and communications facilities; and other logistical support.
