SEOUL Korea and the United States agreed, in principle, to revise the ROK- U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) to the level of similar agreements Washington signed with Japan, Germany and other countries where American troops are stationed, a Foreign Affairs-Trade Ministry official said Aug. 2.
Song Min-soon, director general of the Foreign Affairs-Trade Ministry s North American Affairs Bureau, made the remarks after the morning session of bilateral talks aimed at revising the agreement governing administrative affairs of 37,000 U.S. troops here.
"The U.S. side also agreed to the principle that the ROK-U.S. SOFA should be revised to ensure fairness and alleviate inconvenience," said the chief Korean negotiator.
However, the official said that it is virtually impossible for the two countries to reach an agreement during this round of negotiations, because they will have to deal with a full list of issues involved, including criminal jurisdiction, environment, labor and quarantine affairs.
It marks the first meeting since September l996 when the two countries suspended negotiations despite seven rounds of talks because of a wide range of differences on key issues of the agreement.
A U.S. delegation, headed by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Frederick Smith arrived in Seoul Monday and paid a courtesy call on Vice Foreign Affairs-Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon yesterday morning before entering into official talks.
According to Song, the U.S. delegation showed their willingness to discuss all pending issues, including environment and labor.
On May 3l, the United States handed over its proposals to Korea, which focused only on the revision of the most controversial "custody" issue in the criminal jurisdiction section. So Far, Seoul seeks to secure the custody of American suspects simultaneously with their indictment. Under the current agreement, the Korean side takes custody only after the completion of all judicial proceedings, a provision, which is regarded here as an obstacle to launching thorough criminal investigations.
"The United States asked us to take appropriate measures to ensure legal rights of U.S. suspects, as it is set to transfer their custody sooner," Song said.
In principle, the United States is ready to accept Koreas proposal that American criminal suspects be handed over to Korean authorities at the time of their indictment.
Instead, it is seeking to protect the legal rights of the suspects, which, in some cases, are not compatible with the Korean legal system.
For example, the U.S. side wants to make the American suspects enjoy the "right of confrontation" during their court trials, which is not applicable to Korean suspects under the Korean judicial system. In Korea, the suspects remarks, made in front of prosecutors during the interrogation process, are regarded as evidence, while the United States is seeking to reconfirm the statements, in case they were made in the absence of American legal counsel.
The United States also wants to limit the scope of crimes under Koreas jurisdiction, thus opening the way for U.S.. Military authorities to handle all minor crimes.