YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — In a change to a decade-long plan to reorganize U.S. forces on the peninsula, South Korea will not purchase land to relocate two bases near the Demilitarized Zone, officials said Tuesday.
The U.S. military wants to reorganize its bases in South Korea to become more efficient, reduce the impact on civilian populations, and raise the quality of life for its 38,000 servicemembers here. The two governments agreed in broad strokes on how to reorganize, but timetables for moving forces have not been set.
The United States and South Korea agreed to the Land Partnership Plan in March 2002. Under the plan, the U.S. agreed to cut its number of installations and return around 30,000 acres of land. In exchange, South Korea agreed to purchase and provide about 600 acres.
The canceled land purchases include 244 acres near Camp Stanley, a camp on the fringe of Uijongbu bounded by rice paddies and a prison, said Lt. Col. Lee Bung-woo, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman. Also scrapped was the purchase of 163 acres in Ichon, an area southeast of Seoul, that would be used to replace Camp Page in Chunchon, Lee said.
According to written response from U.S. Forces Korea on Tuesday, “The U.S. and ROK are currently negotiating an amendment to the LPP. Among the provisions of that amendment, the land grants planned for Uijongbu and Ichon will be cancelled, and a larger grant of land at Camp Humphreys provided instead.”
The actual wording of the amendment is still under negotiation, USFK said, but “both the U.S. and ROK have agreed to this change in the plan for land grants,” read the statement, attributed to USFK head engineer Col. Dan Wilson.
“We did not want [the Korean Ministry of National Defense] to buy land the U.S. would probably not need, and certainly did not want to unnecessarily displace Korean people or businesses,” Wilson said in the statement.
“We do still plan to consolidate 2ID forces onto existing bases north of Seoul as much as possible, as an interim step, but we plan to do this without new land or major construction,” said Wilson.
“Some units may in fact move directly to Camp Humphreys during this initial phase. That is not yet decided. Also during this phase, the ROK government will purchase land in Pyongtaek (near Osan Air Base and Camp Humphreys), instead of Uijongbu and Ichon.”
To finance moving U.S. forces as required under the status of forces agreement, the Defense Ministry will sell the land vacated by U.S. forces. A tract of land at Osan Air Base and the former Arirang taxi area near Itaewon in Seoul already have been returned to the South Korean government. The Land Partnership Plan runs through 2011.
South Korean media speculated the canceled purchase may foreshadow troop cuts, which USFK denied.
Talks between the governments “have not included any discussions about troop reductions nor have they included any discussions about the changes to the combined command relationship,” according to a Tuesday USFK news release. “Any future realignment or reduction in U.S. forces in South Korea will necessarily involve close consultations with the government of the Republic of Korea.”
South Korea’s Defense Minister, Yu Bo-sun, echoed that statement.
“We’ve never discussed that,” he said.
U.S. officials have said the LPP could change amid ongoing discussions to move U.S. forces. So far, the two governments have agreed to move forces at Yongsan Garrison to the Osan and Pyongtaek areas by 2007 — though they have not reached an agreement on covering the $3 billion price tag — and to consolidate the 2nd Infantry Division onto camps Red Cloud and Casey.
Eventually, the division will be moved south of the Han River, but no firm timetable has been set. Lee said he couldn’t confirm if the canceled purchase meant U.S. troops could move directly south rather than consolidating first.
Last month, a seventh round of Future of the Alliance Policy Initiative talks ended without an agreement on how to finance moving Yongsan Garrison. Officials plan for more talks this month in the United States.
U.S. officials have said that long-range weapons systems mean troops do not need to be stationed so close to the Demilitarized Zone. “Any changes in the U.S. presence will ensure that the forces are more capable and credible,” USFK said Tuesday.
