South Korea said on Wednesday that it is in talks with the United States to sign a separate deal on wage payment for Korean workers at U.S. military bases in the country amid the allies' stalled negotiations to renew their defense cost-sharing deal. 

According to a Foreign Ministry official, the two sides have agreed on Seoul initially covering the wages, which will then be deducted from its defense contribution expected to be set by the allies in the future.

The Pentagon earlier announced the agreement. 

Seoul and Washington have yet to iron out differences over an increase in South Korea's share for the upkeep of American troops on the Korean Peninsula, even after their previous deal expired on December 31, 2019.

Amid a deadlock in negotiations, Seoul proposed that they first settle the wage issue before seeking an overall cost-sharing agreement.

The U.S. had previously rejected the idea, putting some four-thousand Korean employees on unpaid, indefinite furlough since April 1.