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One-quarter of Yongsan Garrison being returned to Korea
BY ESTHER CHUNG Joongang Daily
July 29, 2021
A fourth of the Yongsan Garrison will be returned to Korea by early next year, the governments of the United States and Korea announced Thursday.
Although the American forces have been relocating from Yongsan for years, this was the first time a specific deadline for partial return of the land was announced.
“The Joint Committee Representatives [of the Status of Forces Agreement] reaffirmed the need for expediting the return of camps no longer in use by the United States,” read a statement issued by the U.S.-Korea joint committee of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) Thursday.
“Both sides have committed to closely work together for returning nearly 500,000 [square meters, or 5.4 million square feet] of Yongsan Garrison by early 2022,” read the statement.
The Yongsan Garrison, which is 20 million square feet, is one of the 80 bases of U.S. forces in Korea being relocated to Pyeongtaek and Daegu as part of a Korea-U.S. agreement from 2003.
Although the American forces have been relocating from Yongsan for years, this was the first time a specific deadline for partial return of the land was announced.
“The Joint Committee Representatives [of the Status of Forces Agreement] reaffirmed the need for expediting the return of camps no longer in use by the United States,” read a statement issued by the U.S.-Korea joint committee of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) Thursday.
“Both sides have committed to closely work together for returning nearly 500,000 [square meters, or 5.4 million square feet] of Yongsan Garrison by early 2022,” read the statement.
The Yongsan Garrison, which is 20 million square feet, is one of the 80 bases of U.S. forces in Korea being relocated to Pyeongtaek and Daegu as part of a Korea-U.S. agreement from 2003.
more:
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/07/29/national/diplomacy/yongsan-garrison-a-fourth-to-be-returned-2022/20210729181408744.html
This is a pretty good update on the issues affecting the return of the Yongsan garrison land in Seoul to the control of the South Korea government. There is a discussion of the serious pollution left behind by US forces. This military base in the heart of Seoul has been under foreign military control for over a century. The US armed forces took control of Yongsan after the defeat of the Japanese in WWII.
