New gates going up at Seoul-area bases

SEOUL — Officials are installing seven unmanned pedestrian gates in Area II that will let people enter the installations using their Department of Defense identification cards.

The Enhanced Security Pedestrian Gates — or “pods,” as some call them — should be installed within 30 days, and then will be tested for 30 to 45 days, Ricky Oxendine, U.S. Army Garrison-Yongsan’s director of emergency services, said at a recent Community Information Forum.

After using an identification card to enter the gate and closing the outer door, the person inside scans their fingerprint over a biometric reader. If the fingerprint is accepted, a second gate opens into the installation. The gates are designed to allow only one person to enter at a time, but guards will monitor the gate through closed-circuit television and can override the system if someone enters with small children.

The 24-hour gates will be located at:

• The Hannam Village side gate, behind the Korean National Housing Office

• Gate 2, at the top of Camp Coiner Hill

• Gate 3, at the end of 1 Corps Boulevard

• Gate 8B, the Camp Coiner walk-in gate

• Gate 12, the gas station pedestrian gate

• Gate 19, near Brian Allgood Army Community Hospital

• Gate 37, Blackhawk Village pedestrian gate

Oxendine said the gates will save money by eliminating some security guard positions.

Each gate costs approximately $160,000, said Slade Walters, spokesman for Installation Management Command-Korea. He said gate locations are subject to change, and it is unclear how many security guard positions will be eliminated.