The U.S. government has appointed a new representative to head the stalemated defense cost-sharing talks with South Korea.

The U.S. State Department said Tuesday that Donna Welton, the former assistant chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan, has been appointed to succeed James DeHart, senior adviser for security negotiations and agreements, who was designated the coordinator for Arctic affairs last week.

According to a U.S. State Department spokesperson, Welton is a veteran diplomat with more than 25 years of experience in strategic communication and other key embassy posts.

She was stationed at the American Embassy in Kabul in August of last year, but moved back to the U.S. recently due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Welton is fluent in Japanese and handled political affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Japan from 2013 to 2015. She was also stationed at the U.S. consulates in Sapporo and Nagoya. According to the U.S. State Department website, Welton also has a master’s degree in Strategic Studies at the Army War College.

The U.S. and South Korea held seven rounds of cost-sharing negotiations from September 2019 through March of this year. The two sides tentatively agreed to a 13-percent increase in South Korea's share of the cost for the upkeep of 28-thousand-500 American soldiers stationed on the Korean Peninsula. But U.S. President Donald Trump rejected the agreement.

South Korea is still seeking a 13-percent increase, while the U.S. is demanding a near 50-percent hike to one-point-three billion dollars.