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U.S. Military Warns 9,000 South Korea Workers Will Be Put on Leave if Pay-Sharing Deal Isn’t Struck

Six rounds of talks over the Trump administration’s demand to cost-share to keep American military in South Korea have failed.

The U.S. military said it began notifying nearly 9,000 South Korean contract workers that they will be out of work starting in April if the Trump administration and South Korean negotiators fail to reach a cost-sharing deal on the upkeep of 28,500 U.S. soldiers stationed in that country. Negotiators for both sides have held six rounds of unsuccessful talks since the White House demanded South Korea pay $5 billion a year, more than five times what Seoul currently pays to keep troops there under an agreement that expired in late 2019. The U.S. military says it’s using “residual funds” to keep paying the workers until April. “Without the Republic of Korea’s continued commitment to share the cost of employing our Korean National workforce, USFK will soon exhaust programmed funds available to pay their salaries and wages,” the U.S. military said in a statement.