“An important opportunity to solidify mutual trust and cooperation”
Democratic Party: “Verification mechanisms are insufficient… “We will review the shortcomings in the negotiations.”
On the 5th, the ruling and opposition parties revealed differing views on the conclusion of the 12th Special Defense Cost-Sharing Agreement (SMA) between Korea and the United States.
The People Power Party evaluated it as “an important achievement,” while the Democratic Party of Korea viewed it as “difficult to evaluate it as a good negotiation.”
Kim Hye-ran, spokesperson for the People Power Party, said in a comment that day, “We expect this SMA to be an important opportunity to further strengthen the ROK-US joint defense posture and solidify mutual trust and cooperation in the ROK-US alliance.”
Spokesperson Kim said, “South Korea and the United States began early negotiations and reached a conclusion quickly after only 5 months of consultation, and as a result, negotiations were concluded within the validity period of the current 11th agreement.” “We concluded the contribution negotiations quickly and reduced uncertainty,” he said.
He continued, “The defense cost share for 2026, the first year of the agreement, was agreed to be KRW 1.5192 trillion, an 8.3% increase from the previous year, and it was to be increased every year thereafter according to the consumer price index.” He said, “This is an important achievement in reducing excessive burden by replacing the growth rate with the consumer price index growth rate.”
He said, “Another achievement of this agreement is the cap on the rate of increase,” and “By setting a cap so that contribution increases can only be increased within the range of no more than 5% per year, we have prevented the defense cost burden from rapidly increasing due to unexpected economic situations.” did it
Spokesperson Kim said, “After this agreement is concluded, it is important to consistently comply with the contents of the agreement regardless of the political situation,” and added, “We will quickly pursue all diplomatic and legislative processes to ensure that the agreement is smoothly implemented through the ratification process in the National Assembly.” “It has to be done,” he said.
He added, “We hope that the government will continue to make diplomatic efforts to ensure smooth implementation of the agreement.”
Yoon Jong-gun, floor spokesperson of the Democratic Party, said in a written briefing issued the same afternoon, “We will fully review the deficiencies in the agreement.”
Spokesperson Yoon said, “We expect that a speedy agreement between Korea and the United States will help further strengthen the ROK-U.S. alliance,” but added, “It is difficult to evaluate it as a ‘good negotiation’ just because the results of the 12th agreement are more favorable to us than the last round.” .
He said, “This is a higher figure compared to the increase rate in the 8th and 9th agreements, and it is a higher rate than the 8.2% increase in the 10th agreement, which was a short-term one-year agreement.” He added, “The proposal to change the contribution calculation method from the total amount to the requirement-satisfaction type has not been properly reviewed.” evaluated.
He also said, “An astronomical amount of budget is invested every year, but it is also being pointed out that there are insufficient devices to properly verify it,” and “Yet the Yoon Seok-yeol government is praising itself for doing a good job on this.”
He said, “The unspent funds accumulated by the United States are still over 1.7 trillion won, and there is no public who would accept an increase in the contribution of more than 8% as propaganda.” He added, “The Democratic Party, on behalf of the people, will emphasize the importance of the Korea-U.S. alliance in the National Assembly deliberation process. “We will fully review the shortcomings of this agreement,” he said.
On the 3rd, the defense cost-sharing negotiators of South Korea and the United States reached a final agreement on the 12th SMA negotiations and signed the document. The 2026 contribution was agreed to be 1.5192 trillion won, an 8.3% increase from the 2025 total of 1.4028 trillion won. For four years from 2027 to 2030, the contribution each year will be determined by reflecting the previous year’s consumer price index (CPI) increase rate in the previous year’s contribution, but the annual increase rate will not exceed 5%. This agreement applies for five years from 2026 to 2030.
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2024-10-07 04:11:34