U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld asked South Korea to pay more for the presence of U.S. forces on the Korean Peninsula, the Korean Times reported on Monday.

According to the report, quoting government sources, Rumsfeld urged in a letter to South Korean Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung in mid-August that Seoul should share an "equitable" amount of defense costs in keeping with South Korea's growing economy, which is the 10th largest in the world, as well as the Korean military's greater role in national defense.

"I interpreted Rumsfeld's letter as Washington's strong hope to share the mutual defense cost 50-50 at a time when the sides are moving to establish a 'joint defense system' in which the U.S. military is shifting to a support role," the source told the Korean Times on condition of anonymity.

Seoul contributes some 40 percent of the total budget for maintaining the 29,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) under an agreement made in 2005.

Meanwhile, USFK commander Gen. B. B. Bell said in an interview earlier that Seoul increase its share in defense expenditure to a 50-50 split.

In early August, South Korea and the United States failed to reach agreement on the defense costs. Washington reportedly wants to have a long-term agreement that can cover several years with Seoul's greater contribution. But Seoul wants to maintain the current ratio or lower its cost of sharing under a short-term deal in consideration of the planned reduction of U.S. forces in Korea from the current 29,500 to 25,000 in 2008.

Rumsfeld also reaffirmed in the letter that Washington wants to transfer operational control over South Korean troops to the South Korean military by 2009.

South Korea and the United States are expected to unveil a roadmap for their command rearrangements, including the transfer of wartime operational control, in October during a meeting between Rumsfeld and Yoon.

Ahead of the defense ministerial meeting, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W. Bush are scheduled to meet on Sept. 14 in Washington D.C. and are expected to reach an agreement over principles regarding the wartime control transfer, the Korean Times quoted government officials as saying.

Source: Xinhua