hankyoreh

On Mar. 31, South Korea’s Defense Installations Agency uncovers an oil pipeline illegally installed by US Forces Korea in Gunsan during the 1940s and 50s. (provided by the city of Gunsan)

Investigators have found an oil pipeline that was illegally installed and used by US Forces Korea (USFK) in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, in the 1940s and 50s.

Sources at South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense and the city of Gunsan told the Hankyoreh on Apr. 1 that the city and the Defense Installations Agency found the pipeline underground on a second dig near 609-29 Gaesa Neighborhood, in the vicinity of Okgu Reservoir, on Mar. 31.

The steel pipeline, with a diameter of 150mm, was buried around 70cm underground, running from Gunsan Harbor to an airfield on the US Kunsan (Gunsan) Air Base. The pipeline was presumably left there by USFK after they shut it down 40 years ago.

On Mar. 4, the Defense Installations Agency had conducted a previous dig in the area without finding the pipeline. The two digs were carried out by the Ministry of National Defense (MND) at the request of the city of Gunsan, which was acting on the wishes of its citizens.

The pipeline was laid in the 1940s and 50s to supply oil to the Kunsan Air Base in the Okseo township of Gunsan and reportedly measures around 12km in length. It was closed in 1980 after an explosion at a fuel depot in Gunsan’s Haemang neighborhood, but with its location not precisely ascertained, a portion of the pipeline remained neglected.

The pipeline reportedly still contained some oil. On Apr. 1, the DIA and city of Gunsan cut the pipeline open for verification and some oil emerged, mixed with small amounts of water. The DIA plans to expand the excavation to areas where the pipeline is believed to have passed, namely the neighborhoods of Haemang and Soryong and the township of Okseo.

The city of Gunsan plans to conduct a full-scale investigation into possible contamination of the soil surrounding the pipeline and to request cleanup from the MND if any is found.

“Since this pipeline was determined to have been constructed illegally, we plan to conduct a demolition and restoration effort once the full extent of its length has been examined,” a city official said.

By Park Im-keun, North Jeolla correspondent