The United States and South Korea have signed a new cost-sharing agreement for funding the American military presence on the peninsula.
And for the first time, Seoul's share of the expense has been cut.
Under the deal signed Thursday, South Korea will pay about $676 million - nearly 9-percent less than last year - to help finance the U.S. military presence for 2005 and 2006.
Some 32,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea but that number is set to decline as part of Washington's worldwide redeployment of forces.
The United States has maintained a military presence in South Korea since the 1950 - 1953 Korean War, which ended in a cease-fire, leaving the two Koreas technically still at war.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.
