South Korea's top diplomat said Seoul and Washington's negotiations to renew their defense cost-sharing agreement should follow the precedent of the previous ten agreements and proceed within the existing framework of the Special Measures Agreement(SMA).

At a press gathering on Thursday, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Seoul's position is that cost-burden sharing of the stationing of U.S. troops on the Korean Peninsula should be done reasonably, voicing opposition to Washington's push to drastically increase Seoul's contribution.

The Donald Trump administration is reportedly demanding the creation of a new clause in the allies' Status of Forces Agreement to cover the cost of "operational support" for the U.S. military's deployment of personnel and strategic assets to the peninsula.

Kang said while it is true that the U.S. is demanding far greater contributions from South Korea, there's a need for a pan-government strategy to narrow the two sides' differences.

Kang's remarks come as Seoul and Washington launched a second round of cost-sharing negotiations in Hawaii on Wednesday.

Under the current one-year SMA 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.