SOFA negotiations to be delayed

The ninth round of talks between Seoul and Washington on the U. S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) is expected to be held in the middle of this month, despite the two sides¡¯ previous agreement to hold the meeting two months after the previous eighth round of talks (Aug. 2-3). At this point, civic groups voiced suspicions that the U. S. and Korea are not serious about tackling the SOFA revision.

The Foreign Affairs-Trade Ministry said Monday that the talks would be delayed because the U. S. side needed time to adjust its internal views and establish its position regarding Seoul¡¯s proposals on environmental, labor and quarantine issues, adding that the negotiations will be resumed in Washington toward the middle of this month.

The Korean and U. S. sides issued a joint press statement Aug. 3, saying that the ninth SOFA talks would be held at an early date, within two months after the end of the eighth meeting in Seoul.

Cha Seung-Ryul, secretary general of the National Struggle Committee for the Revision of the Unfair SOFA, noted that the governments of the two nations even failed to honor the date for the next SOFA revision meeting, which he said was the only concrete agreement reached at the eighth round of talks.

However, a foreign ministry official disclosed that Seoul and Washington had held three informal contacts on the matter since the eighth talks and are also scheduled to hold working-level discussions Oct. 5-6. The government is determined to revise the SOFA at the earliest possible date, the official stressed.

He added that he regretted the government¡¯s failure to keep the public pledge regardless of the reason for the delay.