(From left) US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Republic of Korea (ROK)'s Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and ROK Defense Minister Suh Wook pose for the media before the ROK-US Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting at ROK's foreign ministry in Seoul, March 18, 2021. (LEE JIN-MAN / AP)
SEOUL – Defense and foreign ministers of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States held the so-called "two plus two" talks in Seoul on Thursday on the Korean Peninsula and regional issues.
The meeting, the first held in about four and a half years since October 2016, was attended by ROK Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, ROK Defense Minister Suh Wook, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
According to a joint statement released after the meeting, the two sides reaffirmed that the ROK-US alliance serves as the "linchpin of peace, security and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Pacific region".
The so-called "two plus two" meeting was the first held in about four and a half years since October 2016
The two sides also reaffirmed a mutual commitment to ROK's defense and the strengthening of the ROK-US combined defense posture, consistent with the ROK-US Mutual Defense Treaty.
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Following the meeting, the four ministers oversaw a signing ceremony where chief negotiators from the two allies initialed a tentative deal on the 11th Special Measures Agreement (SMA), a ROK-US pact to share the upkeep cost for about 28,500 US troops stationed in ROK.
The SMA, who needs to go through internal processes, such as parliamentary approval, on both sides before it is formally signed, was reached earlier this month in Washington. Under the deal that will last until 2025, ROK will raise its burden to share the military cost in accordance with the growth rate of the country's annual defense budget.
The SMA is a symbol of the shared commitment to the ROK-US alliance, according to the joint statement.
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Robert Rapson, chargé d'affaires ad interim at US Embassy Seoul (front, left) and the Republic of Korea (ROK)'s chief negotiator Jeong Eun-bo (front, right) initial as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (back row, 2nd left), US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (back row, 1st left), ROK Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong (back row, 2nd right) and ROK Defense Minister Suh Wook (back row, 1st right) watch during an initialing ceremony for the Special Measures Agreement at ROK's foreign ministry in Seoul, March 18, 2021. (LEE JIN-MAN / AP)
Meanwhile according to the statement, the two sides iterated their firm commitment to the conditions-based transfer of the wartime operational control of ROK forces from the United States, to which Seoul and Washington agreed in 2006.
ROK's wartime command was handed over to the US forces after the 1950-53 Korean War broke out. ROK won back its peacetime operational control in 1994.
The ministers emphasized in the statement that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear and ballistic missile issues are a priority for the alliance, reaffirming a shared commitment to address and resolve the issues.
The two sides also affirmed the importance of ROK-US-Japan trilateral cooperation, pledging to continue promoting mutually-beneficial, forward-looking cooperation to promote peace, security and prosperity in the region.
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According to the statement, both sides also reiterated their resolve to continue to work together to create "a free and open Indo-Pacific region" through cooperation with ROKs New Southern Policy.
Blinken and Austin arrived in Seoul Wednesday after visiting Japan on the first overseas trip by top cabinet members of President Joe Biden’s administration.