SEOUL — The United States and South Korea have rejected several proposals submitted by a management group in recent months for adjusting the time line and costs for U.S. Forces Korea’s move to Pyeongtaek, USFK commander Gen. Walter Sharp said Thursday.
That group, the Project Management Consortium, was hired by both governments to manage the move to U.S. Army Garrison-Humphreys and the expansion of the base.
U.S. bases in and north of Seoul are scheduled to close by 2012, with Humphreys and a collection of bases in Daegu becoming the major two hubs for the U.S. military in South Korea.
Sharp said in September that the move’s time line was being reassessed, and South Korean media have speculated that the move could be delayed until 2016 because of slow construction and funding concerns.
"Both the ROK (Republic of Korea) government and the U.S. government are pushing very hard for this consortium to come up with the quickest way we can move and the least costly way that we can move, and to balance those," Sharp said during a news conference Thursday about a plan to normalize tours in South Korea.
The consortium has presented several proposals over the past several months, and neither government was completely satisfied with them, Sharp said.
Those proposals were sent back to the consortium, along with each government’s questions, he said.
Sharp said the governments are "about ready" to agree on a final time line and cost for the move in the next several weeks.