South Korean and U.S. diplomats held talks in Seoul on Tuesday over the two allies' planned negotiations on cost sharing for the upkeep of American troops in Korea. 

Chang Won-sam at Seoul's Foreign Ministry and his U.S. State Department counterpart, Timothy Betts, ​met for a pre-negotiation consultation, according to the ministry.  

They were the chief negotiators in the previous round of talks on the Special Measures Agreement(SMA), a defense cost-sharing deal for the 28-thousand-500 soldiers stationed on the peninsula as part of U.S. Forces Korea(USFK).

Chang and Betts are expected to have discussed the timetable and formation of new teams for the negotiations that will soon be launched to establish the eleventh SMA.

The two officials are unlikely to be directly involved in the upcoming negotiations, however, as Washington has already selected Betts's replacement and Seoul is also finalizing its own selection.