Seoul to purchase U.S. munitions stockpiled in S Korea

SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- South Korea will purchase nearly half of U.S. munitions stockpiled in the country with over 271 billion won (213 million U.S. dollars), the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

Under an agreement reached by South Korea and the United States, Seoul will take over about 259,000 tons of munitions, about half of U.S. munitions kept here under the War Reserve Stocks for Allies (WRSA) program, from the U.S. military.

South Korean Defense Ministry said it was a "very good deal" for South Korea as the munitions were sold at about one tenth of their original price and Seoul is allowed to pay with labor and services for U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) in lieu of cash.

The deal is expected to be sealed next Friday when South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee and his U.S. counterpart Robert Gates meet in Washington for annual defense ministerial talks, known as the Security Consultative Meeting, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.

The defense ministry said South Korea will take over about 100 different types of munitions compatible with weapons systems here, while the rest will either be used by USFK or shipped out in the near future.

The United States decided in 2006 to terminate part of its war reserve program in South Korea and to either ship the munitions out or sell them to South Korea by 2009. The original price for the U.S. munitions stockpile is said to be worth some 3 billion U.S. dollars, local media said.