The U.S. held negotiations in Washington on July 2 with the south Korean authorities to sign a new special agreement on sharing the upkeep of the U.S. forces in south Korea and agreed to clinch the issue by October, the editorial noted, and went on:

The U.S. used to sign such an agreement periodically after setting a certain period with the south Korean authorities since the early 1990s in bid to collect from the south Korean people in a legitimate manner funds to cover the upkeep of its forces.

The negotiations are now under way to conclude a new agreement as the validity of the one signed at that time is to expire this year. The U.S. is pressuring south Korea to raise its share, sparking concern that Seoul's share is expected to surpass a trillion won.

Disclosing this fact, the editorial deplored that south Korea is not in a position to know properly for what purpose the U.S. is going to spend such stupendous amount of money to be provided to it.

It calls on the authorities to make a mechanism for confirming the use of such funds and prevent all of them from going into pockets of U.S. troops through the negotiations.