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Choi Chang-won, the first deputy chief of the State Affairs Coordination Office, is giving a briefing on the return of the USFK base at the Ministry of Defense in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the 11th. Yunhap news
Twelve of the 22 USFK bases, which have been delayed for a long period of time due to cleanup costs from air pollution, are returning to the public. This is the largest return since 2007 when 23 places were returned and, for the first time, part of the US military base in Yongsan, Seoul was included. However, again this time, there are criticisms that the South Korean government will first bear the cost of cleaning up the environment and discuss sharing it later, so that the US, the user, has, in fact, been exempted. of the cleaning responsibility.
On the 11th, the government held the 201 Joint Committee of the Korea Status Agreement of US Forces (SOFA) with the United States on the 11th to recapture 11 US military bases and 2 Yongsan bases. in Seoul, parts of Gyeonggi, Nam-gu, Daegu, Pohang and Taebaek, Gangwon. I said I did. The total area of the returned base is 1.53,549㎡, which is slightly more than half of the Yeouido area in Seoul (2.9 million㎡). A government official said: “We will promote the return of the bases to be returned at an appropriate time in consideration of the relocation of the bases with the US, the progress of the environmental consultations and the regional development plans of the local governments “.
Among the return sites, two areas within the US Yongsan military base are particularly notable. As Korea and the US agreed to return the Yongsan base sequentially, the ‘Sports Ground’ near the National Museum of Korea in the south and the ‘Softball Stadium’ in the southeast (53,418m2) were first returned. Although it is only 2.6% of the total area (2,300,000m2) subject to return, it is evaluated as having symbolic significance in the sense that it took the first step to return the base. It also means that the land used as a garrison for foreign troops like China, Japan, and the United States since the end of the Joseon Dynasty has been fully restored in 138 years.
12 US bases returned in 2020
Also, Camp Kim in Yongsan, Seoul (45,721㎡), Religious Retreat in District 8 (19,898㎡), Niblo Barlux (29,012㎡), a support facility for foreign residents in Hannam, Seobinggo site (5,034㎡) and Jung -gu The Far East Corps of Engineers (45,049㎡) returned together. In the metropolitan area, three sites were included: Camp Jackson in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province (163,197㎡), Seongnam Golf Course in Hanam (931,128㎡), and part of Dongducheon Camp Mobile (Zone 1, 57,060㎡). Daegu Campwalker Heliport (66,884㎡), Gyeongbuk Pohang Pohang Naval Contingent (1752 Range), and Gangwon-do Taebaek Pilseung Firing Range (23,396㎡) will also be returned.
However, environmental issues were left as a task. As with the return of four US military bases in December last year, the government stipulated a condition for consulting with the United States on the issue of cleanup costs, measures to strengthen environmental management of the bases, and amendment of documents. related to SOFA to solve them. In addition, he said, “I will review and discuss the improvement of the de development of pollution management standards, △ the preparation of common pollution investigation procedures and △ environmental accident notification procedures and joint investigation procedures.” Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun also said via Facebook on the same day that “the problem of the optimal use of the US military return site and the purification of soil contamination is a task that must be solved in the future.” and “we still have a lot of knots to finish”. However, it is questionable whether the US military will actively respond to this. The United States military maintains its position that it is not responsible for cleaning up the contamination. The logic of the US military is that other allies, such as Japan and Germany, did not pay any pollution cleanup costs when returning US military bases.
Kang yubin reporter [email protected]
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