On Friday, October 4th, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. State Department announced that the United States and South Korea have reached an agreement on a new five-year plan to share the cost of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.
According to a statement by U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, after eight rounds of negotiations, an agreement has been reached with South Korea on the new five-year “Special Measures Agreement”.
Miller stated, “This agreement is a significant achievement for both parties and will strengthen our alliance and shared defense.”
The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a press release that both parties have agreed to increase defense costs for 2026 by 8.3% to 15.2 trillion Korean won (11.3 billion U.S. dollars).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs mentioned in the statement that Seoul and Washington initiated talks earlier than usual, aiming to finalize the negotiations before the November U.S. election.
Compared to the average annual increase of 6.2% over the past five years, the cost-sharing for 2026 is expected to rise due to higher maintenance costs and an increase in local staff.
An agreement has also been reached to adjust cost-sharing from 2027 to 2030 based on the consumer price index, with efforts to ensure that the annual increment does not exceed 5%.
The United States has approximately 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea primarily to support South Korea against the aggression of North Korea. South Korea and North Korea remain in a state of conflict, with the demilitarized zone serving as the boundary. South Korea began shouldering the deployment costs of U.S. troops in the early 1990s, covering expenses such as local worker salaries, military facilities construction, and other logistical support.
The signing of the new agreement comes amid a heated presidential race between Republican presidential nominee and former President Trump and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
During his presidency, Trump had repeatedly expressed his desire for South Korea to pay more for U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, proposing an increase to $5 billion. Negotiations on the agreement had stalled under the Trump administration until South Korea agreed to increase its share by 13.9%, resulting in the largest annual increase in nearly two decades. The agreement is set to expire by the end of 2025.