Abstract
South Korea has the defense burdensharing agreement with the United States in reference to the U.S. troops stationed in Korea since 1991, based on Special Measure Agreement(SMA). Due to the growth of Korea's economic power and the U.S. provision of the security environment on Korean penninsula, the U.S. government steadily demanded the rise of contributions to common defense from South Korea and South Korea accepted most of the U.S. requests without proper principles of negotiation concerning the cost sharing. This paper analyzes the systems of the Korea－U.S. cost sharing program through a systems thinking, that yields desirable results with a little effort. The three policy leverages are: 1) the development of negotiation principles; 2) the policy making closely linked with National Defense Reform Basic Plan; 3) the policy making with responsibility burdensharing than cost burdensharing. This paper findings will contribute to the developing the Korea－U.S. cost sharing program by providing policy－makers and policy-practitioners with systematic understanding and insight into the dynamics of the program. Also, this will enable the program to execute more effectively with a concrete formula.