US and South Korea reach tentative agreement on new cost-sharing deal for US troops ahead of potential Trump victory

By Kylie Atwood, CNN

Washington (CNN) — The US and South Korea have reached a tentative new five-year cost-sharing agreement for US forces based in South Korea, US and South Korean authorities announced Friday, in a deal that would safeguard the long-running alliance ahead of a potential victory by former President Donald Trump in November.

The current agreement does not expire until the end of 2025, but both sides felt a sense of urgency to accomplish the deal ahead of a possible second Trump administration, two US officials and two former US officials familiar with the discussions previously told CNN. Negotiations over the Special Measures Agreement, known as the SMA, strained the alliance during the Trump administration, and the former president demanded Seoul pay up to 400% more for the presence of the 28,500 US troops in the country during negotiations over the current agreement.

Under the new agreement, South Korea would contribute KRW ($1.13 billion) to the cost of stationing US troops in Korea in 2026, which is an increase of 8.3% over the cost of 2025, Seoul’s foreign ministry said. The new agreement would come into effect in 2026 and last until 2030. It has to be approved by South Korea’s national assembly, which is dominated by the opposition party to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, and the US Congress has no role finalizing a deal on the American side.

Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement that the new agreement was reached after eight rounds of negotiations.

Advocates argue that a significant US troop presence in the Korean Peninsula is crucial to strengthening the alliance between the two countries. The troops are important to both countries as a means to deter any potential attack from North Korea as Kim Jong Un’s regime continues to build its nuclear arsenal and as a way of bolstering the US presence in the region to counter China’s aggression.

There was more urgency to get the deal done before the end of the year on the Korean side given the tumult of the previous round of negotiations, officials said. Some officials feared that getting an agreement done now could trigger criticism from Trump, and they did not want the alliance to be in the former president’s line of fire if he wins the election in November.

Under the current agreement, South Korea pays about $1 billion annually, representing an increase of about 13.9% over previous SMAs.

Trump administration officials largely negotiated the terms of the last agreement, but it did not go effect until March 2021, just months after President Joe Biden took office, which allowed Biden administration officials to make changes that got the agreement to its final state.

During the initial phase of the talks, CNN reported that Trump had asked South Korea to pay $4.7 billion a year, a demand that came out of thin air and sent State and Defense Department officials scrambling to justify the number.

Earlier this year, Trump said that he did not think the South Korea is paying enough based on the last agreement.

“They were able to renegotiate with the Biden administration and bring that number way, way down to what it was before, which was almost nothing,” Trump said earlier this year during an interview with Time. “Why would we defend somebody? And we’re talking about a very wealthy country. But they’re a very wealthy country and why wouldn’t they want to pay?”

Some former US officials have warned South Korea not to move too quickly toward an agreement because it could backfire if Trump ends up in the White House.

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Gawon Bae contributed to this report.

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