On the 24th (local time) during the Republic of Korea-U.S. 2+2 trade consultation held in Washington, D.C., Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok stated that the issue of defense cost-sharing for U.S. Forces Korea was not addressed.
After the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Choi noted in a briefing at the South Korean Embassy in the U.S. that "there was no mention of defense costs at all in today’s discussions."
It has also been confirmed that renegotiation of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was not discussed. Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun said, "There has been no discussion regarding FTA renegotiation," adding that "renegotiating the FTA could take a considerable amount of time. Therefore, we believe the U.S. side might try to avoid addressing this as much as possible."
Deputy Prime Minister Choi explained that third countries, including China and Japan, were also not mentioned.