US and South Korean officials on Saturday failed to wrap up talks on relocating US army bases in South Korea and postponed the signing of a deal until April, a defence ministry spokesman said.
The two sides were to have finalised the two-day talks here Saturday and sign documents on moving US military headquarters from its base at Yongsan in central Seoul to the south of the capital.
At previous talks last month in Hawaii, the allies agreed to pull some 7,000 US troops out of Seoul to the new base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers (40 miles) south of the capital, by the end of 2007.
"The two sides have come within an inch of signing the documents but decided that they need more time to consider legal aspects of the documents," the spokesman of the defence ministry told AFP.
"We expect the documents to be initiated in April," he said. He declined to elaborate on the sticking points.
Defence ministry officials earlier said the two allies remained split over how to cover the cost of the move, estimated at more than three billion dollars.
South Korean activists have criticised Washington for asking Seoul to cover most of the cost.
Talks on the relocation of some 37,000 US troops stationed in South Korea under a mutual defence pact dating back to the 1950-53 Korean War began in December 2002.
The realignment includes a plan to relocate a 15,000-member US infantry division from the frontline with North Korea to bases south of Seoul.