US, South Korea agree "in principle" on sharing troops stationing cost

The United States and South Korea have reached an agreement "in principle" on sharing the cost of stationing U.S. troops in the Asian country, the State Department said Monday. "The United States and the Republic of Korea have reached an agreement in principle on a new Special Measures Agreement," a spokeswoman said. "Both sides are committed to working out remaining technical issues as quickly as possible."

CNN quoted an State Department official as saying that under the revised agreement, South Korea would boost its financial contribution to nearly $1 billion. The 2014 deal that expired last year required Seoul to pay about 960 billion won ($848 million) a year for keeping some 28,500 U.S. troops in the South Korea. The allies had appeared unable to strike an accord to renew the deal despite 10 rounds of talks since March. 

(With inputs from agencies.)