South Korea and the U.S. are to begin new rounds of negotiations on defense cost sharing this week.
Diplomatic and defense officials from Seoul and Washington will meet in Hawaii for three days starting Wednesday,... for the first negotiations towards their tenth Special Measures Agreement.
From 1967, Washington had paid the costs of U.S. troops in South Korea, with Seoul providing land and facilities,... but since 1991, the two countries have signed Special Measures Agreements to share the cost burden.
Under the previous SMA, Seoul has been paying around 920-million U.S. dollars, each year-- 46-percent of the total cost of the U.S. forces in South Korea.
The Trump administration is expected to claim that South Korea needs to pay more... and Seoul says it will strive to strike a deal that's reasonable and beneficial for South Koreans.