US-ROK cash row idles support staff

Thousands of Koreans left without pay amid wrangling over troops funding

SEOUL－Around 4,000 citizens of the Republic of Korea working for the US military in their country were put on unpaid leave on Wednesday as Seoul and Washington bicker over funding for US forces.

The United States stations 28,500 troops in the ROK, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in an armistice, rather than a peace treaty. But the security allies' relationship has been strained by US demands that Seoul pay billions of dollars more toward their costs.

The administration of US President Donald Trump initially insisted on $5 billion a year－a more than fivefold increase from the $870 million under last year's agreement.

US officials say they have since "compromised" on the figures but seven rounds of negotiations, the most recent in mid-March, have failed to reach a deal.

The previous Special Measures Agreement, as the funding pact is known, expired at the end of December and US Forces Korea, or USFK, said last month that it would be forced to start putting Korean employees on leave from April 1 when funds to pay their salaries ran out.

"This is an unfortunate day for us, ... it's unthinkable,... it's heartbreaking," USFK commander Robert Abrams said in a video statement on Wednesday.

"These are our employees, our co-workers, our teammates, and we consider them family," he added. "They are vital to our mission."

Abrams said the USFK was working to prevent the furloughs from undermining military readiness, and said it would offer unspecified support to the workers on unpaid leave.

Half of staff affected

The furloughs so far apply to almost half the USFK's near-9,000 ROK staff. US officials have said they will cover the payroll for more than 4,500 workers deemed essential.

"The US has put citizens of its security ally and their livelihood in jeopardy," said Son Gio, secretary-general of USFK Korean Employees Union. "President Trump is also putting lives of US soldiers stationed in South Korea in danger, as the furlough will make things worse for those who have already been affected by the coronavirus outbreak within the bases."

Ahead of Wednesday's furlough, ROK negotiator Jeong Eun-bo said Seoul and Washington had "substantially narrowed" their differences and were "at the final stage of coordination to settle a deal".

"The decision by the US side to implement the unpaid leave for our workers as planned does not properly reflect the situation of the negotiations and we think this is regrettable," Jeong told a news conference in Seoul.

"We urge the US to take measures to make sure the employees subject to the furlough scheme can swiftly go back to work," he said, adding the move could undermine military readiness on the Korean Peninsula.

"We expect an agreement to be finalized soon."

Representatives for the ROK Foreign Ministry and the US embassy in Seoul declined to comment on the status of the negotiations.

"We're closely watching developments," one ROK Foreign Ministry official said on the condition of anonymity.

The furloughs also came as Seoul and the US military battle the coronavirus outbreak－13 cases related to USFK have been confirmed－and with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea carrying out a series of weapons launches.

Pyongyang successfully test-fired super-large multiple rocket launchers on Sunday, the official Korean Central News Agency confirmed on Monday.

The ROK military said on Sunday that it observed two short-range missiles were fired from the DPRK's eastern coastal city of Wonsan, flying 230 kilometers with a maximum altitude of 30 km.

The DPRK has conducted a series of weapon tests and artillery firing drills so far this year.

Agencies - Xinhua