Saturday, March 31, 2001

By Jim Lea, Osan bureau chief

CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — The front gate will look at little different to visitors of the post in Pyongtaek.

The city built a new pedestrian gate and military police operations building in exchange for the U.S. Army relinquishing a narrow plot of land along the camp fence line.

The move is being viewed as a win-win situation by city officials and the camp commander.

The new walk-in gate replaces a wooden building used for decades as the gate house and military police pass and operations office. The city gains land to be used in a street-widening project near a planned shopping mall.

The gate and operations building project is "just another example of the close and cooperative relationship we enjoy with the city and people of Pyongtaek and Anjong-ri," said Col. Glenn M. DeSoto, commander of Area III, one of four Army administrative and support areas in South Korea.

The old building, about a block north of the camp’s vehicle access gate, was considered an eyesore for Humphreys’ residents.

"Dilapidated facilities like that gave the impression that Camp Humphreys was a terrible place to be," DeSoto said. "If a place looks good and looks sharp, it makes you feel good and feel sharp."

Yu Chang-yol, Pyongtaek city engineer, thanked the Army for turning over the land to the city. The proposed mall will extend about three blocks from the camp’s pedestrian gate. Yu said construction of the 3.5 billion won ($2.7 million) mall will begin in April and will be completed in about a year.

Yu said the relationship between the city and the Army is "friendly, cooperative and mutually beneficial. We believe that will last for years to come."

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