U.S. and South Korean officials dialogue to share military burden after Washington asked Seoul to spend nearly $ 5 billion on the deployment of US troops.

The talks resumed from the morning of November 18 to narrow the disagreement over Seoul's contribution to maintain the presence of 28,500 US troops in South Korea, dealing with threats from North Korea.

"I am confident that we will reach an agreement that both sides accept and support, it will strengthen the great alliance between the two countries," said the US State Department adviser in charge of security negotiations James DeHart. , chief of US negotiating team, said.

The Korean delegation was led by Jeong Eun-bo, former vice-chairman of the Financial Services Commission, and former deputy finance minister. He is the first civil official appointed by Seoul for military-sharing talks with Washington in nearly 30 years.

South Korean media said last week that advisor James DeHart had asked South Korea to spend US $ 4.7 billion to maintain US troops and weapons stationed in the country, an increase of nearly five times compared to US $ 1 billion. last year. The proposal was met with opposition from South Korea.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said November 15 that South Korea is a rich country and "should pay more" for the deployment of American troops.

The US maintains about 28,500 garrison and a variety of modern weapons in South Korea to ensure its security. Since March 2018, the two countries have conducted 10 rounds of talks on sharing military costs in the context of President Trump repeatedly calling for South Korea to increase financial contributions to the US garrison.

About 70% of Seoul's contributions are now used to pay 8,700 South Korean employees working in the fields of administration, engineering and other services for the US military. By the end of 2018, the US military warned it would force these South Korean employees unpaid leave if the two sides failed to reach a new "protection fee" agreement.