SEOUL: On Tuesday, a South Korean lawmaker said that ,  The United States and South Korea are struggling to narrow differences over the share of the cost of maintaining US troops after a US demand for a 50 percent increase in the South`s contribution.

However, the allies have failed to strike an accord to replace a 2014 deal that expired last year, which needs  South Korea to pay about 960 billion won ($848 million) a year for keeping some 28,500 US troops there.US President Donald Trump has frequently said that South Korea, where the United States has stationed soldiers since the 1950-53 Korean War, should bear more of the cost. The US military has warned Korean workers on its bases they might be put on leave from mid-April if no deal is reached.

On Monday, at their last meeting, in December, the United States made a "sudden, unacceptable" demand that South Korea pay more than 1.4 trillion won per year, about 1.5 times its current contribution, according to Hong Young-pyo, a senior ruling party legislator. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha briefed a group of lawmakers on the talks. Any deal is subject to parliamentary approval.

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A spokesman at the US embassy in Seoul declined to comment that "The negotiations were deadlocked," . While, Hong told a meeting with lawmakers. "The U.S. side suddenly made a proposal at the last stage which was difficult for us to accept."

When asked about the US demand on Monday, Kang declined to specify numbers but said there was a "very big difference" in the positions between the two countries. Kang reported that, "We`ll work to reach an agreement that`s reasonable, affordable and explainable to the National Assembly and the people,".

Kang Seok-ho, another lawmaker who attended the foreign minister`s briefing, said the government`s stance was not to pay more than 1 trillion won a year and an agreement should be valid for five years, not one year as reportedly sought by the United States.

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