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Nearly empty streets in the special tourist area of Dongducheon

Dongducheon residents are up in arms over US Eighth Army Commanding General Thomas Vandal’s recent comments about residual US forces in the Gyeonggi Province city.

During a July 14 press conference at Dongducheon City Hall, a group of residents calling itself the Pan-Citizen Committee for a Response to the US Military Redeployment urged Seoul to refuse to accept the US military’s unilateral decision to leave residual forces and to take measures in response.

“During a talk with reporters for the Command opening ceremony on [July] 11, US Eighth Army Commander Thomas Vandal said the 210th Artillery Brigade would be left in Dongducheon as a residual force until the South Korean military establishes the necessary capabilities,” the committee said in a statement.

“We cannot help suspecting that this use of abstract and vague wording about the timeline for the residential unit’s relocation was the result of another closed-door agreement between the Ministry of National Defense and US Forces Korea,” it continued.

The reason for the Dongducheon residents’ objections has to do with the continually shifting story on the relocation timeline for the US 2nd Infantry Division stationed in the city. The division was originally slated to be relocated in its entirely to Pyeongtaek by 2016 in accordance with the Pyeongtaek relocation plan. But a decision was made at a South Korea-US Security Consultative Meeting in Washington on Oct. 23, 2014, to leave the 210th Artillery Brigade there through 2020 while the South Korean military beefed up its firepower warfare capabilities.

The government’s unilateral decision on the residual US forces sparked an immediate outcry from the city, which declared plans to halt support efforts in registering US military vehicles. The Pan-Citizen Committee also waged an opposition campaign, holding demonstrations in front of the 2nd Infantry Division to oppose the residual forces – but the decision to keep the 210th Artillery Brigade remained unchanged.

The latest comments from the Eighth Army Commander are sparking fears from the city and residents that the timeline for the residual 210th Artillery Brigade relocation could be pushed back against past 2020.

“We cannot accept the Ministry of National Defense and USFK’s unilateral residual force decision,” said committee chairperson Han Jong-gap.

“When making decisions on residual US forces, the government needs to provide corresponding support measures,” Han insisted.

Dongducheon is currently home to six US military bases — Camp Nimble, Camp Castle, Jimbols Training Field, Camp Mobile, Camp Casey, and Camp Hovey — which cover an area of 40.63 square kilometers, or roughly 42% the city’s total area of 95.66 square kilometers. Only three of them (Camp Nimble, Jimbols Training Fields, and Camp Castle) have been returned to South Korea to date.

By Park Kyung-man, north Gyeonggi correspondent

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