South Korea and the United States have launched a fresh round of negotiations to determine how much each will contribute to the cost of maintaining U.S. troops on the Korean Peninsula.

The two-day talks began in Honolulu on Wednesday between South Korea's top negotiator Jeong Eun-bo and his U.S. counterpart James DeHart. The two met for the first time the previous evening for dinner.

The first round of negotiations in Seoul last month were led on the South Korean side by Jeong's predecessor, Chang Won-sam, as Jeong had not yet been appointed.

The talks between Jeong and DeHart are expected to be intense, as the U.S. seeks a substantial increase from Seoul to maintain U.S. Forces Korea on the peninsula. 

The U.S. says it costs as much as six trillion won, or five billion dollars, annually for the upkeep of the troops, including expenses for U.S. armed forces personnel and the deployment of strategic assets. 

The two allies would have to revise their Status of Forces Agreement to enable South Korea to pay such costs. 

Under the current one-year agreement set to expire on December 31, Seoul agrees to pay one-point-04 trillion won this year, an increase of eight-point-two percent from 960 billion won last year.