South Korea and the U.S. military agreed Tuesday to step up efforts to protect cultural properties on U.S. military bases in South Korea, government officials said.

 

"The two sides signed a deal to have closer consultations for the efficient protection of cultural assets inside U.S. military bases," a Foreign Ministry official said.

 

He was briefing on the results of the one-day meeting of the Joint Committee of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), the legal code governing roughly 30,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.

 

In May, South Korea and the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) launched a joint survey of cultural properties on 10 U.S. military bases, including the Air Force base in Gunsan, about 270 kilometers south of Seoul. They plan to finish the survey by the end of this year.

 

The two sides also agreed to joint quarantine inspection of livestock to be supplied to the U.S. troops, the ministry official said.

 

In the annual session to discuss the SOFA, South Korea was represented by Cho Tae-yong, director general of the Foreign Ministry's North American affairs bureau, and Lt. Gen. Garry R.

 

Trexler, deputy commander of the USFK, was Cho's counterpart.

 

Trexler is to retire from military service later this month.

 

Cho delivered a plaque to the U.S. officer for his contributions to the South Korea-U.S. alliance.  

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 25, 2006)