After 10 year delay, USFK starts relocation from Yongsan Garrison

Posted on : 2017-07-11 17:35 KST Modified on : 2017-07-11 17:35 KST
Delay of relocation of base from prime real estate in Seoul’s Yongsan district has led to ballooning costs
Yongsan Garrison in Seoul (by Lee Jeong-a
Yongsan Garrison in Seoul (by Lee Jeong-a

The US Eighth Army Command in Seoul’s Yongsan area plans to complete its relocation to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, by next month, it was confirmed.

With a large-scale transfer of units from Yongsan Garrison scheduled to take place by the end of the year, the Eighth Army - which has become synonymous with US Forces Korea - is withdrawing from Yongsan for the first time in 64 years.

But since an agreement was first reached on it under the Roh Moo-hyun administration (2003-08), the garrison’s relocation has turned into a giant mess, delayed for nearly ten years under conservative administrations while costs ballooned to over 16 trillion won (US$13.9 billion), according to the most recent estimates from 2010.

The effort now appears certain to attract controversy. As a lawmaker, current President Moon Jae-in was harshly critical of the Park Geun-hye administration’s (2013-16) decision in 2014 to abandon its pledge and leave the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command (CFC) at Yongsan Garrison.

Yongsan Garrison public park conversion plan
Yongsan Garrison public park conversion plan

A USFK source told the Hankyoreh on July 8 that the current plan was for “the Eighth Army and USFK Command to relocate in turn from Yongsan Garrison, starting in early July.”

“There have been some small-scale base relocations, but the main Yongsan Garrison relocation will be completed by the end of this year, and the 2nd Infantry Division relocation in northern Gyeonggi Province by next year,” the source said.

A ceremony to mark the Eighth Army Command’s arrival is to take place at the Pyeongtaek base on July 11. The US military has also rehearsed the move. The plan will reportedly include the later relocation of around 12,000 troops and their family members from Yongsan Garrison and the 2nd Infantry Division, with sources reporting that the scale of the Pyeongtaek base will increase by 1,200 when the Eighth Army arrives in four to six weeks.

With their Yongsan Garrison relocation agreements between 2002 and 2004, South Korea and the US agreed to consolidate 40 scattered US military bases around Pyeongtaek and Daegu. The initial completion date for the USFK base relocation effort based on this agreement was 2008. As the US military’s largest overseas camp construction effort according to bilateral agreement, it was seen as a new litmus test for the South Korea-US alliance.

But the very aims of the Yongsan relocation ended up severely compromised as CFC and other conditional residual facilities only increased. With lodgings for embassy personnel and even protective facilities left in place, over 25% of the base proper (according to some estimates) is to remain for the time being.

According to the Yongsan Garrison relocation agreement, CFC was supposed to be one of the first to be relocated to Pyeongtaek in late 2006 along with the USFK and UN Commands. As stated at a 2004 Future South Korea-US Alliance Policy Vision meeting, this was a “reflection of the expectation that US military facilities in the heart of Seoul should be returned to the South Korean people swiftly and completely.” But in Oct. 2014, the Park administration requested that the US indefinitely postpone the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON), accepting in turn the US military’s request that CFC be left at Yongsan and the 2nd Infantry Division’s Artillery Brigade at Dongducheon. With no amendments of Cabinet review of the agreement to date, there are questions over its Constitutionality.

The cost of the base relocation has swelled from an initial 7 trillion won (US$6.1 billion) or so to over 16 trillion won. The Ministry of National Defense claims that South Korea is responsible for 8.9 trillion won (US$7.7 billion) and the US for 7.1 trillion won (US$6.2 billion), but in reality around 94% of it - 15 trillion won (US$13 billion) - is South Korean money. The numbers are also 2010 estimates; with an announcement that the 2017 project costs are “being re-estimated,” there is no way of knowing how they have changed.

The second half of 2017, the period when the USFK is set to more or less complete the Yongsan relocation, is also perhaps the last window of opportunity to discuss “normalizing” the relocation. At the very least, matters could be made clearer with an amendment of the agreement on the question and scale of the residual CFC presence.

During a 2014 parliamentary audit, Moon - then a New Politics Alliance for Democracy (precursor to today‘s ruling Minjoo Party) lawmaker - said it “makes no sense to say we can’t receive OPCON when South and North Korea have a difference of 15 times in defense costs and 40 times in economic strength.”

Moon also argued that “explanations should be given about the legal, administrative, and financial issues that arise when the US military remains in Dongducheon and Yongsan, and [the agreement] needs to receive new National Assembly ratification.”

“Aren’t you ashamed of yourselves?” Moon asked at the time, prompting Minister of National Defense Han Min-koo to reply, “I don’t think we should ashamed.”

By Im In-tack, Lim Ji-sun, Cho Il-jun, Choi Hyun-june and Steven Borowiec, staff reporters

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