S. Korea, US to hold defence cost talks next week

South Korea and the US will hold a new round of talks in Washington next week on sharing the cost for stationing American troops here amid expectations the two sides were closer to a deal, the Foreign Minister said on Friday.

Jeong Eun-bo, South Korea's chief negotiator for the talks, is set to meet his US counterpart, James DeHart, for the two-day talks starting on January 14, Yonhap News Agency quoted the Ministry as saying.

The planned negotiations come as the two allies were under pressure to clinch a fresh deal on determining how much Seoul should pay for keeping some 28,500 U. soldiers on its soil.

Last year's cost-sharing deal, known as the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), expired on December 31, 2019.

A Seoul official has told Yonhap that the allies are at "a crossroads" of a possible deadlock or major compromise.

The allies have held five rounds of talks since launching the negotiations in September last year.

They remain far apart on key sticking points, such as the amount of Seoul's contribution and what should be included in the SMA.

South Korea paid around US$870 million under last year's SMA, an 8.2 per cent increase from the previous deal.

Since 1991, Seoul has shouldered partial costs under the SMA -- for Korean civilians hired by the US Forces Korea, the construction of military facilities to maintain the allies' readiness and other forms of support.IANS