SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Friday that it has issued an advance notice of possible furlough to South Korean employees amid the deadlocked cost-sharing deal on how much Seoul would pay for the stationing of the U.S. troops here.
"Due to the 2019 Special Measures Agreement (SMA) lapse and the continued absence of a subsequent agreement, USFK provided their (South) Korean National employees with a required 30-day notice of its decision to commence an administrative furlough that will begin on April 1 absent an agreed-upon SMA," the USFK said in a statement.
It was seen as an apparent U.S. pressure over South Korea to contribute more to the upkeep cost of around 28,500 U.S. troops stationed here.
Since September last year, the two countries held six rounds of negotiations on the 11th SMA, a South Korea-U.S. accord to share defense cost for the USFK, but they failed to reach an agreement amid Washington demand for a sharp increase in Seoul's contribution.
The 10th SMA, which was struck in March last year, expired at the end of 2019. Under the accord, South Korea paid 1.04 trillion won (about 860 million U.S. dollars) last year, up 8.2 percent from the previous year.
The statement said the USFK provided the furlough notice for all of its about 9,000 South Korean employees, though the U.S. Department of Defense announced that it will fund critical USFK logistics contracts and key positions which offer life, health, safety and readiness services.
It noted that without South Korea's continued commitment to share the cost of employing the USFK South Korean workforce, the USFK will soon exhaust the programmed funds available to pay their salaries and wages.
"Their loss will have an impact on readiness. Unfortunately, without an agreed-upon SMA, we must continue to prepare for a potential furlough," said Gen. Robert Abrams, USFK commander.
Since 1991, South Korea has shared the defense cost for U.S. forces here, including costs for South Korean civilians hired by the USFK, construction of military installations and logistics support.
