March 17, in Los Angeles, negotiations began between the United States and South Korea to conclude a new Special Measures Agreement (SMA), which is designed to regulate the funding of US military bases on the Korean Peninsula. This was reported by KBS.

The previous contract expired on December 31, 2019, and so far the parties have not been able to agree on the parameters of the new one: the sixth round of negotiations took place in January and ended without result.

According to media reports, Washington requires Seoul to increase annual maintenance costs for US military facilities to almost $ 5 billion. The South Korean authorities consider this amount to be unreasonably high: according to the expired last year’s agreement, their share was about $ 870 million. These funds will be fully spent by March 31 this year. .

The Pentagon said that if it is not possible to reach an agreement before the end of March, then from April 1, a significant part of the 9 thousand Koreans working at American military facilities will be sent on unpaid leave, since they receive salaries from the funds allocated by Seoul.

“If you cannot agree on a deal, then on April 1, 2020 you will have to send most employees (with Korean citizenship) on unpaid leave, and also suspend the implementation of many construction and logistics tasks,” the Pentagon’s military publication quoted the Pentagon as saying.

The commander of the US Armed Forces in South Korea (USFK) four-star general Robert Abrams said that the loss of service personnel would adversely affect the combat effectiveness of US troops in the region.

“The US Armed Forces community in Korea relies heavily on our facilities for providing the right conditions. From the point of view of military events and combat readiness, possible sending on unpaid leave will become something more serious than just a negative factor, ”the words of the commander of Stars & Stripes quoted.

According to KBS, the United States is ready to reduce its requirements to $ 4 billion, however, the South Korean authorities consider this amount too high.

Legacy of war

American troops have been on the peninsula since the Korean War of 1950-1953. The DPRK and South Korea have not yet signed a peace treaty, which is why the situation in the region remains rather tense, experts say.

Under these conditions, 28.5 thousand US troops stationed on South Korean territory are perceived by Seoul as a certain guarantee of their own security in the event of a hypothetical conflict with Pyongyang, analysts say. The American contingent in South Korea has about 90 combat aircraft, 40 attack helicopters, about 60 Patriot air defense systems and includes units of the marine corps.

  • US forces in joint exercises with the South Korean military
  • Reuters
  • © Lee Jae-Won

According to the head of the Center for Military-Political Studies of the Institute of the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Batyuk, the South Korean authorities consider American bases “the inevitable and lesser of evils” and at the moment they cannot refuse to place them.

“Despite the differences between the countries, including in the financial sphere, no alternatives to US-South Korean cooperation are visible in the foreseeable future. These countries are too necessary for each other in terms of security, ”he said in an interview with RT.

At the same time, the analyst recalled that Washington’s demands at times to increase funding for US bases are ambiguously perceived by the South Korean public. So, in November 2019, another round of negotiations on this issue was accompanied by protests. Demonstrators from 50 non-governmental organizations, as well as the trade union confederation, called on the country's authorities to freeze payments and start negotiations on the reduction or complete withdrawal of American troops from South Korean territory.

Allied pressure

As Batyuk emphasized, the requirement for Seoul to increase the cost of maintaining American bases fits into the general strategy of the Donald Trump administration to build relations with the Allies in the defense sphere. The American leader has repeatedly emphasized that Washington’s partners should invest more in defense, as the United States cannot bear the entire burden of financial obligations on its own.

“Despite the record US defense budget, the Pentagon must correctly spend funds, since it has huge expenses. The maintenance of American military bases located around the world puts a heavy burden on the budget, so the Pentagon seeks to shift the costs to its allies, ”the expert explained.

Trump made similar claims to NATO allies. In 2019, he insisted on approving a new alliance budget formula, according to which the share of US contributions was reduced from 22% to 16%. At the same time, the share of Germany was increased to 16%.

  • Donald Trump during a visit to South Korea
  • Reuters
  • © Kevin Lamarque

In addition, Trump has repeatedly demanded that NATO members increase individual defense spending, which according to the rules of the alliance should be at least 2% of GDP.

In 2019, Asahi reported that John Bolton, who was then the adviser to the President of the United States on national security, allegedly told the Japanese authorities that they would also have to increase their spending on maintaining American troops by five times.

Such demands from the White House indicate that the current US administration is trying to take a more pragmatic approach to the deployment of its troops abroad, said Evgeny Kim, a researcher at the Center for Korean Studies at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies.

“Trump, offering American protection for money, approached this issue as a businessman. With this proposal, he went not only to Korea, but also to Japan, the countries of NATO. In such a situation, none of them was able to ask the US to withdraw troops, because they have no idea how they can live without an American security umbrella, ”the expert explained.

At the same time, in South Korea, as in other countries, society has a negative attitude to the need to maintain American bases at its own expense, says Eugene Kim. However, there are no political forces that could “push through” the withdrawal of US troops in these states, he is sure.

According to him, Seoul and Washington will sooner or later be forced to find a compromise solution, as both are interested in this.

“This situation will not affect the military cooperation between the United States and Korea, because the South Korean government will eventually agree to the conditions of the Americans. Neither in Japan nor in South Korea is there a statesman who could say the United States "no." Seoul is afraid to quarrel with Washington so as not to lose its trade and political preferences, ”concluded Kim.