US can send on vacation 9 thousand South Koreans working at military bases

The US military contingent command (USFK) in the Republic of Korea warned that it would be forced to send about 9,000 South Korean nationals from the staff of American military bases in the country on unpaid leave if Washington and Seoul could not soon decide on the distribution of joint defense  expenses.  This is stated in a statement released by the USFK on Wednesday.

 "Due to the expiration of the agreement on special measures from 2019 and the absence of a new agreement, the command of the US armed forces in South Korea notified South Korean officers about the possibility of sending them on unpaid leave from April 1, 2020," the document says.

 On January 16, the Republic of Korea and the United States unsuccessfully completed the sixth round of negotiations in Washington on the issue of sharing the costs of maintaining the American military contingent on the Korean Peninsula.  The previous agreement expired on December 31, 2019.

 Since 2018, Washington has been requiring Seoul to increase its contribution to the US contingent in the Republic of Korea.  Thus, South Korean spending on joint defense in 2019 was increased by 8.2%, to 1.04 trillion won ($ 915 million).  In November 2019, it was reported that Washington demanded that Seoul increase its contributions by almost five times - up to $ 4.7 billion.

 US troops have been in South Korea since the Korean War of 1950-1953.  The conditions of their stay are regulated by the agreement on assistance in mutual defense, signed on January 26, 1950 by the two countries.