[ti:US, South Korea Meet Again for Talks on Sharing Defense Costs] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.36]The United States and South Korea are meeting for the fourth time [00:05.56]to reach an agreement on sharing defense costs. [00:10.48]There are about 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea. [00:18.32]The country shares a heavily armed border with North Korea. [00:24.80]The two sides remain technically at war [00:29.40]because the Korean War ended in 1953 without a peace treaty. [00:37.68]The current discussions are to take place Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington. [00:46.52]Jeong Eun-bo is South Korea's top negotiator. [00:52.24]On his arrival near Washington, he expressed hope after the failure of talks earlier. [01:01.56]"I believe we will be able to produce a win-win result [01:06.64]if we continue discussions with patience," Jeong said on December second. [01:14.92]The current cost-sharing agreement will end on December 31. [01:21.84]Since 1991, the agreements have been updated every five years, [01:29.04]but the current deal covers only one year. [01:34.16]The two sides last reached an agreement in February. [01:39.44]South Korea increased its share of defense costs by 8.2 percent to more than $800 million. [01:52.32]That amount has been described as about half of the total cost. [02:00.12]A recent study from the government's Korea Institute for National Unification [02:07.16]said that 96 percent of South Koreans oppose paying more for defense cost-sharing. [02:16.68]South Korea also said it agreed to pay 90 percent [02:23.88]of the $10.7 billion cost of moving a U.S. military base out of Seoul. [02:34.48]President Donald Trump has been urging South Korea and other allies [02:40.96]to pay more toward defense costs since he took office in 2017. [02:50.36]Reports say that the U.S. asked South Korea to pay about $5 billion starting next year. [03:01.80]The request was made during talks last October in Honolulu, Hawaii. [03:11.16]Some experts say that the U.S. is putting pressure on an important ally. [03:19.96]C. Harrison Kim is a North Korea expert and professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. [03:31.72]He told VOA that he believes South Korea will pay a little more. [03:39.92]"If the cost-sharing agreement does not change, [03:43.68]South Korea will be forced to buy more weapons from the U.S. [03:49.96]– that would undoubtedly happen," he said. [03:53.72]Kim also told VOA that he thinks: "President Trump is approaching this as a cost-benefit analysis" [04:05.20]and is not considering the historical legacy of the U.S. in Korea. [04:13.96]Some experts are unsure if the Trump administration will ease its demands [04:21.64]that allies pay more of defense costs. [04:26.00]Leif-Eric Easley is a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. [04:33.84]He said in an email that the cost-sharing talks come as North Korea continues to threaten the South. [04:44.96]"The U.S. and South Korea would be well advised [04:49.52]to quickly and diplomatically resolve their differences on defense cost-sharing [04:56.84]to demonstrate the strength of their alliance," he said. [05:02.16]I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. [05:05.36]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM