SEOUL, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- South Korea and the United States failed to resolve differences over sharing the cost of the 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in the Asian country, officials said.
The two sides ended two days of talks in Seoul for renewing the Special Measures Agreement relating the United States Forces Korea or the USFA without much progress, Yonhap News reported, quoting officials.
The two sides need to renew the five-year SMA on the cost of keeping the USFA in South Korea. The current agreement is set to expire at the end of this year.
The two sides agreed to meet again later this month in Washington to sort out their differences.
The report said under the current agreement, South Korea contributed 869.5 billion won ($821 million) last year, or more than 40 percent of the total needed to maintain the U.S. forces and wants that level retained in the new agreement. The United States, however, was reportedly demanding an additional 200 billion won.
"Both sides remain divided over the issue and have not reached any results," Yonhap quoted a South Korea foreign ministry official as saying. "We should come up with results that look convincing to the citizens."
The U.S. troops in South Korea are part of the two countries' mutual defense treaty to deal with any aggression from North Korea.
