A Foreign Ministry official says the U.S. did not request that South Korea cover a portion of the costs related to the deployment of strategic assets during defense cost-sharing negotiations.

The official said Wednesday that no such request was made through two rounds of negotiations on the eleventh Special Measures Agreement, the framework that outlines how much each ally pays to maintain U.S. Forces Korea in the country.

The revelation comes after a number of observers said that the U.S. is seeking to have South Korea share costs associated with deploying strategic assets in the region, including B-52 bombers.

The U.S. has deployed such assets in the past when conducting joint military exercises with South Korea and when it was deemed necessary to convey a warning message to North Korea.

The U.S. requested South Korea share such expenses during last year’s defense cost-sharing negotiations but South Korea rejected the idea, saying the request was incongruent with the key purpose of negotiations.