hankyoreh

Uijeongbu Mayor Ahn Byung-young holds a press conference calls for the return of the US military’s bases in the city to South Korea at Uijeongbu City Hall on Dec. 12. (provided by the city of Uijeongbu)

The city of Uijeongbu expressed deep dismay over being excluded from the government’s Dec. 11 announcement of US bases subject to immediate return to South Korea and called for a swift return along with state-led measures for its development.

“I was disappointed and disheartened at the news that the US base in Uijeongbu was excluded from the targets for early return, despite military units there being closed down and the units having relocated elsewhere,” Uijeongbu Mayor Ahn Byung-young said in a Dec. 12 statement.

“Is this how the state treats a place that has quietly shouldered security responsibilities for over 60 years?” he asked.

“Uijeongbu was home to eight US military bases, the largest number of any local government nationwide, and even today there are three bases -- representing over two-thirds of Uijeongbu’s total military base area -- that have not been returned despite the US troops having left,” he continued.

“Rather than serving as land for new opportunities and hope, the remaining US bases in Uijeongbu have been left abandoned and useless,” he said.

According to the South Korea-US Land Partnership Plan (LPP), four of the military bases in Uijeongbu have been returned in turn: Camp Kyle, Camp LaGuardia, Camp Sears, and Camp Essayons. The three remaining bases are Camp Red Cloud (836,000 square meters), Camp Jackson (1,6420,000 square meters), and Camp Stanley (2,457,000 square meters). Together, the three unreturned sites account for 4,935,000 square meters in area, or over 80% of the total area for all seven military bases in Uijeongbu.

The unreturned Camp Red Cloud and Camp Jackson were closed down last year after troops were relocated to Pyeongtaek. Camp Stanley has remained in use only by helicopter refueling management personnel since the relocation of most of its troops to Pyeongtaek early last year.

A “regional administration town” has been built on the returned Camp Sears site, while a park and roads have been built on the former Camp LaGuardia. An Eulji University campus and university hospital are currently being built on the Camp Essayons site, while an apartment complex is scheduled to be built on the Camp Kyle site.

The city of Uijeongbu plans to develop Camp Red Cloud into a security theme park, Camp Jackson into a culture and arts park, and Camp Stanley into a retirement community.

“Most of the US military bases in Uijeongbu are located at key locations in the city center, which has a serious impact on regional development,” Ahn explained.

“We can no longer look forward to the city’s development unless the return of the vacated US military sites is guaranteed,” he said.

By Park Kyung-man, North Gyeonggi correspondent

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]