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A view of the Yongsan US military base as seen from the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 11th. News 1
The government decided to return the sites of 12 bases to the USFK, including part of the Yongsan base in Seoul, on the 11th, but there are many tasks to be solved in the future. Considering the time it takes to investigate the contamination level and clean it up, it is expected to take at least 2-3 years to use the base. Above all, even in this agreement, the USFK did not acknowledge responsibility for the base contamination. The cost of environmental cleanup, estimated at hundreds of billions of trillions of won, is likely to be the responsibility of the Korean government. Criticism was raised around environmental groups at this time.
Oil and heavy metal contamination confirmed at 11 out of 12 bases
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
With respect to the US military bases that were confirmed to return that day, the biggest issue is the cost of environmental cleanup. Although the level of contamination is different for each base, one of the bases whose return was confirmed on this day was confirmed as a contaminated site that exceeded the standards of concern for soil contamination according to national legislation. “Excluding the Taebaek Pilseung shooting range in Gangwon, where only oil contamination was confirmed, not only oil contamination was confirmed but also heavy metal contamination,” said the government official.
As the level of contamination has not been specifically identified, it is difficult to estimate the cost of environmental cleanup at this time. However, a Defense Ministry official said the day that “the cost incurred on 24 (US military bases) that had been cleared (before the return was confirmed) was about 220 billion won.” Of the four bases returned at the end of last year, Gangwon Wonju Camp Eagle and Camp Long, the cleanup cost for the three bases for which the environmental cleanup cost was estimated was 98 billion won. The estimated cost of purification at 27 bases alone amounts to approximately 318 billion won. Therefore, environmental organizations and others estimated that the environmental cleanup cost of the 12 bases returned that day will also reach at least 300 billion won. Area 2, such as the sports ground at the Yongsan base in Seoul, where the return is confirmed on this day is a park, and the Kim camp in Yongsan is planned to be used as a public housing construction site by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH). Resolved.
USFK, SOFA, “without obligation to restore to original state”
Officials from the Seoul Countermeasures Committee for the full return of the US military base in Yongsan and the deportation of the bacteria laboratory are shouting slogans at a press conference to announce the return of the USFK base in Seoul in front of the Ministry of Defense in Yongsan -gu, Seoul on the evening of the 11th. News 1
The biggest problem is that the USFK is unlikely to share the cost of environmental cleanup in the future. In the deal of the day, the government announced in the deal that the ROK and the United States decided to continue arguing after “Korea pays first,” as happened with the return of the four bases last year. The ‘Joint Pollution Investigation Procedure’ was established and a consensus was reached to improve the notification procedure and the investigation procedure in case of environmental accidents. However, the USFK is subject to the USFK State Agreement (SOFA), which states that “the United States (the United States) shall not be obligated to restore or compensate the facilities and areas in the conditions in which they were provided by the Army. from the United States when returning facilities and areas. ” According to Article 4, the cost burden is negative. In the ‘SOFA Special Memorandum of Understanding on Environmental Protection’ signed in 2001, it was stated that “in the event of contamination that falls under the known, imminent, actual, and imminent danger to human health (KISE), the United States must assume the cost of cleaning. ” The position that the US military side is not applicable is firm.
Environmental group “The public misled by more discussions between Korea and the United States”
Environmental groups also criticized the government for focusing only on returning the base and once again overlooking the significant environmental cost. Shin Soo-yeon, a green coalition activist, pointed out that “the procedure to return the base according to SOFA consists of ‘initiation of negotiation, environmental investigation and implementation request’, and it is not correct to receive the return first without asking for responsibility. cleanup at the implementation request stage. ” did. On this day, civic groups such as ‘Uneven Korean-American National Solidarity SOFA Review’ criticized that “the government’s position to return the contaminated base first under the pretext of continuing the consultation and taking responsibility later is misleading to the public.”
Of the 80 bases that the authorities of the Republic of Korea and the United States agreed to return in 2004, 68 have been returned to this day. Twelve sites remain, including the Pyeongtaek Shooting Range in Gyeonggi Province, the Red Cloud Camp in Uijeongbu, and the Casey Camp in Dongducheon. Most of them are bases currently in use by the USFK. Regarding the additional return schedule, a Defense Ministry official said on the day: “We will promote the return at the appropriate time taking into account the situation of the USFK relocation to Pyeongtaek and the development plan of the local government.”
Youngbin jo reporter [email protected]
Kim Cheong-hwan reporter [email protected]
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