South Korea, US to Resume SOFA Revision Talks Nov. 29Large-scale delegations from South Korea and the United States will enter into nine days of intensive talks from Nov. 29, in a last-ditch effort to narrow their differences over the revision of the bilateral SOFA agreement, which governs the administrative affairs of the 37,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.Song Min-soon, director general of the ministry's North American Affairs Bureau, will lead the Korean delegation, comprising officials from the Foreign Affairs-Trade, Justice, Defense, Environment, Agriculture-Forestry, Labor and Finance-Economy Ministries. The U.S. team, including officials from the State Department and Defense Department, will be headed by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Frederick Smith. With regard to the criminal jurisdiction issue, the two sides already worked out a joint draft, although there are still several issues to be resolved. As for the so-called ``Track II'' issues, like environment and labor, the two countries would endeavor to create a draft agreement on the basis of their past negotiations. A two-day expert-level meeting will start from Nov. 29, while the plenary session will be opened on Dec. 1 and last for seven days. |
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