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Tuesday, October 17, 2000

U.S., South Korea to
resume SOFA revision talks

By Jim Lea
Osan bureau chief

U.S. and South Korean officials are to resume negotiations Tuesday in Washington on revisions to the Status of Forces Agreement, according to a Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry spokesman.

The talks, expected to last two days, will center on custody arrangements for U.S. military personnel accused of breaking South Korean law.

Currently, military members accused of a crime remain in U.S. custody until their trial in Korean court and all appeals are completed. South Korean prosecutors claim placing soldiers in U.S. custory makes investigating the crimes difficult. The South Koreans want suspects turned over upon indictment.

At the last SOFA talks, held in Seoul in August, U.S. officials agreed in principle to turning over suspects but said there were technicalities that needed to be worked out.

Seoul also is pressing to have clauses added to the SOFA requiring U.S. Forces Korea to protect the environment on its bases. USFK already has a program in place that is based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. The Korean side, however, wants environmental clauses specifically added to the document.

The two sides also were to hold a meeting Monday to discuss South Korea’s request to extend the range of its missiles.

South Korea now is limited by a voluntary agreement to keep the missile range at 111 miles. That agreement was made in the 1970s in order for Seoul to obtain missile-development technology from the United States.

That range, however, allows South Korean missiles to barely reach Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. Extending the range to 186 miles would allow Seoul to target installations over much of North Korea.

North Korea has deployed Rodong missiles near the Demilitarized Zone that can target any place in South Korea. It also has under development Taepodong missiles that can hit anywhere in Japan and targets as far away as Guam, Hawaii, Alaska and some parts of the U.S. West Coast.

Bae Gi-chul contributed to this report.