Posted on 02/14/2004 7:56:57 AM PST by knighthawk
US and South Korean officials have failed to agree on relocating US army bases in South Korea and postponed the signing of a deal until April.
The two sides were to have finalized the two-day talks in Seoul on Saturday and sign documents on moving US military headquarters from its base at Yongsan in central Seoul to the south of the capital.
At previous talks last month in Hawaii, the allies agreed to pull some 7,000 US troops out of Seoul to the new base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometres south of the capital, by the end of 2007.
"The two sides have come within an inch of signing the documents but decided that they need more time to consider legal aspects of the documents," the spokesman of the defence ministry told AFP.
"We expect the documents to be initiated in April," he said.
He declined to elaborate on the sticking points.
Defence ministry officials earlier said the two allies remained split over how to cover the cost of the move, estimated at more than $US3 billion.
The US troops are seen as deterring North Korea's 1.1 million strong army, and conservative groups and opposition politicians say the realignment makes South Korea more vulnerable.
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