USA “Achieving Fair and Balanced Defense Spending … Highlighting the Importance of the ROK-US Alliance.

A US State Department official said on the 10th (local time) that Korea made a significant contribution to the conclusion of the Korea-US defense actions agreement and assessed it as a fair and balanced share. .

Additionally, President Joe Biden’s promise to restore the alliance was reflected in his stance to strengthen the alliance.

State Department officials said at a press conference that took place by phone that day, the deal is the highest rate of increase in shares since 2004. “It is a great emphasis on the importance that both the United States and South Korea have given to our Alliance. “

The two countries agreed to increase Korea’s USFK’s defense cost share this year by 13.9% from last year, reflecting the annual increase in defense spending over the next four years. This is the highest since the 25.7% of the 5th Agreement in 2002, which was the highest in history. In 2020, when the deal became vacant, the contribution was frozen at the 2019 level.

The official estimated that the six-year agreement, which will take effect from 2020, will exceed $ 7 billion in total, saying it was “an important and significant contribution from the Korean side.”

Additionally, President Biden made clear that the alliance was revitalized: “In terms of the spirit of this friendship and the seriousness of the challenges ahead, we have found a fair and balanced cost sharing.

“Both parties recognize that our challenges today are truly more costly for security in a complex environment,” he said. “This was the spirit of our negotiations.”

This official said, “I don’t think it’s appropriate to compare countries,” he said, and said it was very different.

Japan extended the terms of the previous agreement by one year in order to buy time to negotiate a multi-year agreement, which explains that it cannot be directly compared to Korea, which has reached a six-year multi-year agreement.

The official also explained that instead of negotiating the increase itself, he focused on the part that was to be treated as a contribution from Korea, and that the focus was on the burden portion of Korea’s total cost of staying in the past. .

He explained that under the new agreement, South Korea’s contribution is about 44% of USFK parking costs, excluding US labor costs, which is in line with the trend that previously accounted for 40-45%. It is argued that this is not an excessive increase in terms of the share of Korea’s contributions alone.

He also explained that a large part of the contribution is used for the labor costs of Korean workers.

Among contributions in 2019, the ratio of personnel expenses was 48%, military construction expenses were 36%, and military support expenses were 16%.

“I am focusing on this agreement, not the previous agreement,” and replied: “It seems to be a logic and a fair principle,” said the official about linking the rate of increase, which will apply from next year, to the rate. increase in Korean defense spending instead of the inflation rate.

The official said: “We are particularly pleased that our most important alliance, South Korea, has achieved an important first milestone,” after recounting the Biden administration’s key to revitalizing the alliance and the challenges it faces.

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