Washington and Seoul discuss new deal on military costs in South Korea amid possible Trump victory

Sofia Barruti

(CNN) — Washington and Seoul could reach a deal to share the costs of US forces stationed in South Korea by the end of the year, even though the current agreement doesn’t expire until the end of 2025, as both sides feel a sense of urgency to cement a new agreement before the possibility of a second Trump term, according to two US officials and two former US officials familiar with the discussions.

Negotiations over the Special Measures Agreement, known as the SMA, strained the U.S.-South Korea alliance during the Trump administration. Former President Donald Trump demanded Seoul pay up to 400% more for the presence of the 28,500 U.S. troops in the country during negotiations over the current deal.

Proponents of the move argue that a significant U.S. troop presence on the Korean Peninsula is crucial to strengthening the alliance between the two countries. The troops are important to both countries as a means of deterring any potential North Korean attack as Kim Jong Un’s regime continues to build up its nuclear arsenal and as a way to bolster the U.S. presence in the region to counter Chinese aggression.

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According to officials, there is more urgency for South Korea to reach a deal before the end of the year, given the tumult of the previous round of negotiations. U.S. officials are in touch with South Korean officials on the issue, but some officials fear that reaching a deal now could trigger criticism from Trump, and they do not want the alliance to be in the former president’s firing line if he wins the election in November.

Under the current agreement, South Korea pays about $1 billion annually, an increase of about 13.9% over previous SMA agreements. Multiple rounds of negotiations have been held to renew the agreement, with the seventh round concluding in late August.

A State Department official declined to discuss details of the ongoing negotiations but said the United States seeks a “fair and equitable outcome” that “supports the readiness of U.S. forces in Korea and strengthens and sustains the U.S.-ROK alliance.”

Camp Humphreys, the largest US military base abroad 1:04

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump administration officials largely negotiated the terms of the latest deal, but it did not go into effect until March 2021, just months after President Joe Biden took office, allowing Biden administration officials to make changes that brought 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 the blue and had State and Defense Department officials scrambling to justify the figure.

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Earlier this year, Trump said he did not believe South Korea was paying enough under the latest deal.

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

Current and former U.S. officials said a speedy deal is possible. The sources did not detail the current costs being discussed or commit to finalizing it before the end of the year, but added that South Korea’s commitment on the issue could bring negotiations to a conclusion.

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One complication is that the deal will have to be approved by South Korea’s National Assembly, which is dominated by the opposition party to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. The U.S. Congress has no role to play in finalizing a deal on the U.S. side.

Some former U.S. officials have warned South Korea not to move too quickly toward a deal because it could backfire if Trump ends up in the White House.

“I think they are very close to getting the deal done and it is a good idea for the US and South Korea to renew it early, but they should not do so as a hedge against the next president. This is the kind of thing that fuels concerns about the possibility of bureaucracy working against the president’s possible intentions,” said David Maxwell of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, noting that the deal could easily be broken if Trump wins the election and opposes the agreed terms.