South Korea and the United States will reportedly begin talks in the near future to negotiate a new defense cost sharing deal which will be applied from 2026. 

A senior official of the Seoul government said on Wednesday that talks should begin this year as the current deal is set to expire at the end of 2025, and the negotiation process takes over a year to complete.

The official said that Seoul and Washington will discuss the issue in the near future. 

The Special Measures Agreement(SMA) is a cost-sharing agreement between the two allies regarding the upkeep of the 28-thousand-500-strong U.S. Forces Korea(USFK). 

In 2021, the two nations concluded the eleventh SMA, covering the six-year period from 2020 to 2026.

However, it’s unusual to begin talks for a new deal two years before the expiration of the current agreement. 

Observers say the move is to prepare for a possible reelection of former President Donald Trump, who asked for an enormous hike in Seoul’s share for the defense costs during his term. The official, however, dismissed the claims, stating that the proposed timeline has nothing to do with the upcoming U.S. presidential election.