[CPEO-MEF] Korean base management to end

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

USFK to Stop Paying for Vacated Bases

By Jung Sung-ki, Park Chung-a
Korea Times
July 10, 2006

The U.S. military plans to stop as early as next week its management of 
15 U.S. bases that have already been vacated in accordance with an 
agreement on the base return process unless bilateral negotiations over 
the environmental cleanup of bases are successful, a government source 
said Monday.

The South Korean government offices concerned, including the Ministry of 
Defense and the Ministry of Environment, are seeking countermeasures to 
the U.S. side's de facto "ultimatum," the source said, asking not to be 
named.

According to city officials in Uijongbu and Tongduchon, Kyonggi 
Province, the United States Forces Korea (USFK) told locals last month 
that it has decided to stop managing U.S. bases there, including Camp 
Nimble and Camp Kyle, in mid-July and will take similar measures at 
other bases across the nation.

...

For the entire article, see
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200607/kt2006071018011253460.htm

See also

[Editorial] U.S.-S.K. alliance and base contamination

The issue of cleaning up pollution on U.S. military bases must not harm 
the U.S.-South Korea alliance. Likewise, Korea must not be left with the 
burden of the cleanup just because of the alliance. A mutual confidence 
becomes justified when each side carries out its obligations, and an 
alliance grows solid when it is built on confidence. One worries that 
the self-serving attitude on the part of the U.S. about the question of 
how to deal with the contamination is going to hurt that confidence.

Back in April, when Washington and Seoul were in the midst of 
negotiations over how to deal with pollution on U.S. bases, United 
States Forces Korea (USFK) abruptly informed the Korean government of 
its own version of plans to return land it has been using. When 
discussions between governments do not work out, the military meddles in 
the matter? As a sovereign nation, we find this turn of events displeasing.

...

For the entire editorial, see
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/140046.html

--


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org


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