{"id":2206695,"date":"2024-10-07T08:00:58","date_gmt":"2024-10-06T23:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2206695"},"modified":"2024-10-07T00:51:02","modified_gmt":"2024-10-06T15:51:02","slug":"us-south-korea-defense-deal-reduces-immediate-uncertainty-but-risks-persist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/10\/us-south-korea-defense-deal-reduces-immediate-uncertainty-but-risks-persist\/","title":{"rendered":"US-South Korea defense deal reduces immediate uncertainty but risks persist"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The U.S. and South Korea signed a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mofa.go.kr\/www\/brd\/m_4080\/view.do?seq=375481&amp;page=1&amp;pitem=10\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">five-year defense cost-sharing agreement<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> under the 12th Special Measures Agreement (SMA), effective from 2026 to 2030. The deal sets South Korea\u2019s 2026 contribution for the stationing of U.S. forces at $1.13 billion (1.52 trillion won), an 8.3% increase from 2025. Annual increases will be tied to the Consumer Price Index, replacing the previous method based on the defense budget growth rate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another change is the removal of support for U.S. overseas asset maintenance. The U.S. and South Korea clarified that the latter\u2019s defense cost-sharing funds will only be used for assets stationed on the Korean Peninsula, formally ending support for overseas asset maintenance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Defense cost-sharing negotiations began in April and concluded after eight rounds of talks over the past five months. Seoul was likely under pressure to conclude the negotiations before November\u2019s U.S. presidential election.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>WHY IT MATTERS<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although the conclusion of the 12th SMA negotiations reduces some uncertainties, the next U.S. president could still demand a renegotiation, particularly if Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidential election in November. During his previous term, Trump pushed for a significant increase in South Korea\u2019s defense contributions. A potential second Trump administration may seek to renegotiate the terms of the 12th SMA talks with Seoul.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the other hand, a win by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will likely ensure continuity. Her administration is expected to uphold the current agreement, maintaining the established framework of predictable, CPI-based annual increases while focusing on broader alliance management rather than revisiting defense cost-sharing debates.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Further, eliminating U.S. overseas asset maintenance support will likely remove a potential political friction point between the allies. South Korean media <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.koreatimes.co.kr\/www\/nation\/2024\/10\/113_265810.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reported<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2019 that then-U.S. President Donald Trump attempted to use some of the money South Korea contributed for the U.S. to upkeep its forces stationed here to build his border wall with Mexico.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-tags\"><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/defense-security\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Defense &amp; Security<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/inter-korean-foreign-relations\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Inter-Korean &amp; Foreign Relations<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. and South Korea signed a five-year defense cost-sharing agreement under the 12th Special Measures Agreement (SMA), effective from 2026 to 2030. The deal sets South Korea\u2019s 2026 contribution for the stationing of U.S. forces at $1.13 billion (1.52 trillion won), an 8.3% increase from 2025. Annual increases will be tied to the Consumer [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10407,"featured_media":2206696,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[26,28],"class_list":["post-2206695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-briefings","tag-defense-security","tag-inter-korean-foreign-relations"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>US-South Korea defense deal reduces immediate uncertainty but risks persist - KOREA PRO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/10\/us-south-korea-defense-deal-reduces-immediate-uncertainty-but-risks-persist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US-South Korea defense deal reduces immediate uncertainty but risks persist - KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The U.S. and South Korea signed a five-year defense cost-sharing agreement under the 12th Special Measures Agreement (SMA), effective from 2026 to 2030. The deal sets South Korea\u2019s 2026 contribution for the stationing of U.S. forces at $1.13 billion (1.52 trillion won), an 8.3% increase from 2025. 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