SEOUL: Negotiators from South Korea and the United States will hold the discussion in Washington this week to deliberate how to share the upkeep cost for the US Forces Korea (USFK), Seoul's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

The ninth round of talks for the eleventh Special Measures Agreement (SMA), a South Korea-US deal to share the defense cost for about 28,500 American troops stationed here, will be held in the US capital on Friday, reports Xinhua news agency.

The latest negotiation was virtually held on February 5 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The South Korean Foreign Ministry said it is expecting that discussions would be made to reach a mutually acceptable agreement as quickly as possible, based on talks the two sides have had so far.

The 10th Special Measures Agreement, which was reached in March 2019, expired at the end of the year. Under the 10th SMA, South Korea paid 1.04 trillion won (USD 930 million) in 2019 for the stationing of US soldiers, up 8.2 percent from the previous year.

Since 1991, Seoul has shared the upkeep for the US forces, including costs for South Korean civilians hired by the USFK, construction of military installations and logistics support.

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