S.Korea, US to Set up Joint Body to Address SOFA Revision

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 12, 2002

S.Korea, US to Set up Joint Body to Address SOFA Revision

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South Korea and the United States agreed Wednesday to set up a special body to address an accord covering the status of US troops stationed in South Korea, the national news agency Yonhap News reported.

The agreement was reached at a so-called "2 plus 2" meeting attended by South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Tae-sik and Lt.Gen Cha Young-koo, chief of the policy planning bureau at the Defense Ministry as well as another two senior officials from the United States, US Deputy Ambassador Evans Revere and Eighth US Army Commander Charles Campbell.

The two sides will hold further talks to discuss details concerning the establishment of the body that will review the bilateral military accord called the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), said Yonhap.

Many South Koreans have been demanding SOFA revision since two US soldiers were acquitted last month of negligent homicide in a traffic accident that killed two South Korean school girls in June.

Working-level officials of the two countries are set to have a meeting Thursday to discuss ways for South Korean law enforcement authorities to get wider access to US soldiers accused of crimes in the initial stages of investigations, said Yonhap.

South Korean President Kim Dae-jung told visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage that both of the two countriesshould take measures to prevent such miserable incidents to recur and the SOFA should be improved.

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