SOFA subcommittee discusses ways to bolster exchanges between local residents and U.S. troops

SEOUL, June 26 (Yonhap) -- Officials from South Korea and the United States discussed ways to bolster exchanges among South Korean civilians and American troops here Friday, as part of efforts to deepen the two countries' alliance, the foreign ministry said.

The two sides held a meeting of the Civil-Military Relations Subcommittee of the Joint Committee of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) at Camp Humphreys, a U.S. military complex in Pyeongtaek, about 70 kilometers south of Seoul. SOFA governs the legal status of the 28,500 American troops here.

During the session, Kim Yeon-sik, the director of the ministry's SOFA affairs division, and Col. Lee Peters, director of Public Affairs of the U.S. Forces Korea, discussed the plan to launch the "We Go Supporters" group next month.

The group, which consists of South Korean citizens, U.S. citizens, USFK personnel and their families, is a key project to expand exchanges among them, strengthen their friendship and enhance mutual understanding.

"Through this subcommittee, the foreign ministry will continue efforts to expand positive contact among our citizens, and USFK troops and their families, and ensure the experience of such mutually beneficial exchanges will serve as a robust bridge linking the minds of the peoples of the two countries," the ministry said in a press release.

South Korea and the U.S. have regularly convened sessions of the subcommittee on civil-military relations -- one of the 20 subcommittees under the SOFA Joint Committee -- to help nurture stronger ties between local residents and U.S. military personnel.

sshluck@yna.co.kr
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