[Photo essay] Why does US dictate terms of S. Korea-US alliance?

In the Philippines, the US paid rent on its bases until it pulled out its troops

A member of Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea briefly rests beside placards calling for equality in the South Korea-US alliance. The demonstration was held Thursday in front of the Blue House fountain. (Chang Chul-kyu/The Hankyoreh)

South Korea and the US updated their arrangement for splitting the cost of keeping US troops stationed in South Korea. While Article 5 of their Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) states that the US is responsible for all costs pertaining to the operation and maintenance of US Forces Korea (USFK), the US and South Korea signed a special agreement in 1991 to divide those costs.

In contrast, South Korea doesn’t receive any compensation for the land or facilities it provides to USFK.

USFK has used South Korea’s financial contribution to build the future home of the Combined Forces Command in the US military base in Pyeongtaek; to construct an ammunition warehouse at the THAAD missile defense battery in Soseong Village, Seongju; to build a hanger at Osan Air Base from which planes are dispatched to the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, in an attempt to counter China; and even to repair aircraft based in Japan for decades.

There’s no justification in the two countries’ various agreements — SOFA, their mutual defense treaty, or their defense cost-sharing arrangement, called the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) — for spending South Korea’s contribution in those ways. But South Korea has no control over how the USFK spends its money.

US troops are stationed in more than 70 countries around the world, but South Korea and Japan are the only ones that cover part of the garrison cost. In the 11th SMA, South Korea agreed to raise its defense burden by 13.9% this year (to 1.18 trillion won, US$1.04 billion) and then to increase it at a rate equivalent to the increase in defense spending in the previous year through 2025.

Previously, South Korea’s cost-sharing contribution had been pegged to the rate of inflation. South Korea’s inflation last year was 0.5%; the total cost of maintaining USFK rose by 0.7%; and Japan’s cost-sharing contribution edged up 1.2% this year — while South Korea’s contribution was jacked up by the unprecedented rate of 13.9%.

Considering that South Korea’s defense budget has risen by an average annual rate of 7.4%, we’ll probably be paying about 1.5 trillion won (US$1.32 billion) in 2025.

By Chang Chul-kyu, senior staff writer

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