Seoul To Buy U.S. Munitions Stockpile

Seoul, South Korea (AHN) - The U.S. Defense Department announced on Tuesday it will sell half of its munitions stockpile in Seoul to the South Korean government at a discounted price for $213 million. The total amount of the whole stockpile was valued at least at $3 billion.

Washington and Seoul have reached a deal selling a total of 259,000 tons of munitions to South Korea, representing half of the U.S. munitions stockpiled in the region under the War Reserve Stock for Allies or WRSA program of the U.S. military.

The WRSA program was terminated by the U.S. Defense Department in 2006 and it offered to sell the munitions to Seoul or ship them back to the U.S.

A statement of the South Korean Defense Ministry described the agreement as "a very good deal" because the munitions were sold at about one-tenth of their original price. Moreover, the U.S. agreed to allow South Korea to pay with labor and services for the U.S. forces in Korea instead of cash.

The agreement is expected to be formally sealed next Friday when South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee and U.S. Defense chief Robert Gates meet in Washington for the annual defense ministerial talks, known as the Security Consultative Meeting.

In June, Seoul had told the U.S. it wanted to purchase some $200 million worth of missiles and other weapon to equip its new F-15K multi-role fighters.

The munitions, include 125 AIM 120C-7 advanced medium range air-to-air missiles; 35 AGM-65G Maverick missiles; and 280 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) tail-kits.