Pentagon: Agreement reached on funding South Korean workers at US bases

The Pentagon on June 2 reportedly said that it had accepted a proposal from South Korea for it to temporarily fund thousands of Korean workers at the United States bases who were put on unpaid leave this year. According to an international media report, the US furloughed the workers in South Korea in April after the two failed allies failed to sign a new cost-sharing agreement. 

However, the Pentagon in a reported statement said that the agreement meant South Korea would pay more than $200 million to fund 4,000 Korean workers through to the end of this year. While referring to South Korea by the initials of its official name, the Republic of Korea, the Pentagon said that recent decision enables a more equitable sharing of the employee labour burden by the ROK and the US. The statement further read that more importantly, it sustains the Alliance’s number one priority, the combined defence posture. 

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S Korea welcomes Pentagon’s decision 

As per reports, South Korea’s Ministry of Defence said that it welcomed the Pentagon’s decision to end the furlough for the workers. The ministry reportedly further added that the country would work with the US to reach an agreement as soon as possible on the border cost-sharing agreement, which still remains in dispute after it lapsed at the end of last year. 

The US and S Korea are reportedly embroiled in a disagreement dating back almost two years over how much each should pay to support the roughly 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea. The Pentagon said that the US has shown considerable flexibility in their approach to the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) negotiations, and requests that the ROK does the same. 

While speaking to an international media outlet the US officials said that before S Korea’s parliamentary elections in April, US President Donald Trump rejected a South Korean offer to increase its contribution by at least 13 per cent from the previous accord. A union representing the Korean workers also reportedly issued a statement welcoming the Pentagon’s decision and even called for institutional changes to prevent the situation from happening again. 

(Image: AP)

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