TEHRAN U.S. and South Korean officials on Wednesday opened tricky talks to thrash out changes to the agreement under which U.S. troops are stationed here, an issue that is causing growing unease in the country, AFP reported.
The talks on the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) agreement are taking place against a background of anti-American feeling stoked by several high-profile controversies involving the U.S.
military in South Korea.
They also come as the country is being gripped by a wave of optimistic nationalism following the two-month warming of ties with North Korea, which has made many Koreans ask if the 37,000 U.S. troops are still needed here.
U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense Frederick Smith began two days of discussions with South Korean officials at the Foreign Ministry saying that Washington was prepared to make some changes to sofa.
Seoul wants the agreement brought in line with similar U.S. forces agreements in place in Japan and Germany, and in particular wants U.S. servicemen accused of committing crimes to be handed over to its jurisdiction on indictment rather than on conviction.
Another bone of contention is the environmental damage caused by the U.S. military at bases in South Korea, with Seoul pushing for an amendment to sofa to punish offenders.
The issue has been put high on the agenda after it was revealed earlier this month that the U.S. military was forced to apologize for dumping gallons of toxic waste into the Han river which runs through Seoul.
A U.S. military spokesman issued an unprecedented apology, complete with Korean-style bows, and despite reluctance Washington has now reportedly agreed to address the issue of the environment in the sofa talks.
South Koreans also reacted angrily when a U.S. jet made an emergency release of its bombs near a village close to a training range South of the capital.
Seoul and Washington are also at odds over the labor rights of Korean nationals hired to work at U.S. bases and food quarantine issues.
Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon, speaking in Washington several hours before the talks opened, suggested the negotiations could be tough.
"We would like to get it wrapped up, but we want to get it wrapped up in a way that protects the interests of our soldiers and protects the interests of the Koreans, and so far we haven't been able to achieve that balance," he said.
South Korean President Kim Dae Jung has called sofa "discriminatory" and asked for the revisions.
But Kim also expressed concern Tuesday over the rising tide of anti-American sentiment which has seen a series of attacks on U.S. servicemen in the past month including the murder of an army doctor while shopping in Seoul.
He insisted that despite the warming of ties with communist North Korea, U.S. troops were still needed to safeguard South Korea's security.
Wrong U.S. policies should be subject to criticism, but it is wrong to turn that into anti-U.S. sentiment," he added.
U.S. troops are based in South Korea to defend the world's last Cold War frontier. The pact was signed in 1951 during the bitter three-year Korean war, and revised slightly in 1991. The last talks were in 1996.
The U.S. State Department moved to play down anti-American feeling ahead of the talks, saying the ill-feeling was being caused by a very small minority of Koreans.