Revision of troop pact agreed on; environmental provision included

Korea and the United States reached a complete agreement on the revision of the U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) on Thursday after five years of on-and-off negotiations.

Negotiations were headed by Korean chief delegate Song Min-Soon, director general of the Foreign Affairs-Trade Ministry, and his U.S. counterpart Frederick Smith, U.S. Defense Department deputy assistant secretary. They put the finishing touches on the SOFA revisions and held a joint press conference in the afternoon to wrap up their negotiations.

The SOFA was first put into effect in 1967 and was amended for the first time in 1991. The two nations started talks for another revision of the pact in 1995 to make it adaptable to situational changes and resolve the issue of criminal jurisdiction over the U.S. service members accused of crimes in Korea. But bilateral negotiations on the revision took five years.

In the newly agreed pact, the Korean and U.S. sides agreed to advance the hand-over of American soldiers accused of 12 kinds of crimes such as murder, rape, arson and drug trafficking from the time of their conviction to their indictment.

Specifically, the U.S. servicemen who are arrested by Korean law enforcement authorities for murder, rape and some other felonious crimes will not immediately be handed over to the U. S. military authorities but will be detained and investigated by the Korean authorities concerned.

Accordingly, American soldiers who were transferred to the Korean side after a court verdict will now be handed over at the time of their indictment or apprehension.

At the same time, the two sides concurred on the incorporation of the environmental clause into the SOFA's main text. In line with this, the two reached accords on the conclusion of the special agreed understandings.

As for the labor issue, the two sides agreed to shorten the cool-off period, which currently stands at 70 days, to 45 days for the arbitration of labor disputes and strengthened standards for waiving applications of the Korean labor laws. It was further agreed that Korean officials would participate in the quarantine of animals and plants for food that are imported by the U.S. military. In the event that the U.S. plans to construct facilities in the American military compounds, approvals from Korean authorities are required. The U.S. military is also requested to set up strict regulations concerning Koreans' admission into the U.S. military clubs, golf courses and other facilities.

The two sides plan to incorporate these agreed items in the agreed minutes or memorandum of understanding.

After putting the agreement through required processes in the respective nations, the two sides will officially sign the revised pact in the near future.