YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will hold a town hall meeting at Yongsan Garrison on Friday afternoon to talk with servicemembers and their families, according to U.S. Forces Korea officials.
Rumsfeld will be in South Korea later this week to discuss future relations with Korean military leaders at the annual Security Consultative Meeting.
After Friday’s meeting with South Korean officials, Rumsfeld will spend about 50 minutes answering questions from servicemembers and their families at Collier Field House on Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, according to Steve Davis, spokesman for U.S. Army Installation Management Agency’s Area II Korea Region Office.
The town hall meeting will not be open to everyone, according to Area II officials. Attendees will be selected through their chains of command because various peninsula units will have a certain number of allocated seats. Servicemembers, DOD workers and family members who want to attend should contact their respective military organization, Davis said.
Those selected are to meet at the Multipurpose Theater Facility at Yongsan by 1:45 p.m. Shuttle buses will run from the theater to Collier before the meeting begins, then take people back once the event is over.
To reduce background noise to a minimum, military leaders have asked that children younger than six not attend the meeting. Strollers, backpacks and camera bags will not be permitted. Cameras and small video cameras will be permitted but subject to security review, according to Sean Lehane, from the Area II Support Activity Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security.
“Because of security arrangements and the time required to bus people to and from the town hall, spectators should bring bottled water and snacks,” Lehane stated in a news release late Tuesday. Officials anticipated the meeting would end after 6 p.m.
American Forces Network- Korea will broadcast the session live on AFN Prime and re-broadcast it during the weekend, Davis said.
To help the base control traffic Friday, schools on Yongsan will release their students at 11 a.m., Lehane said. Motorists may encounter traffic disruptions on Yongsan South Post before, during and after the town hall meeting.
Rumsfeld’s visit is part of his weeklong around-the-world tour that includes China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania and South Korea.
