Special Measures Agreement (SMA)

Seoul and Washington finally agreed on how to split the bill for the U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, but have not revealed details. 

With a new administration in Washington, Seoul welcomed the chance to resume SMA negotiations that have been stalled for nearly a year. 

"One dismisses the president’s longstanding beliefs that allies such as South Korea are free riders at one’s own peril."

Pushing for vastly increased contributions when Japan and South face looming recessions amid an ongoing pandemic will not serve U.S. interests.

The ongoing nature of the coronavirus crisis merits a rethink to both countries' approaches to the SMA talks.

COVID-19 has disrupted or complicated already contentious cost-sharing talks in more ways than one. 

Tracing near-term, structural, and strategic divergences in the alliance.

If Washington and Seoul can’t narrow the gap on their cost-sharing talks thousands of Koreans could start missing paychecks.

The U.S.-South Korea SMA negotiations have devolved into a blatant shakedown. That's bad for both sides.

With election season looming in the U.S., the question of Japan's financial contribution to the alliance could become politically fraught.

If the Trump administration is going to insist on putting a dollar value on the costs of the alliance, it should also consider the gains in monetary terms.