[CPEO-MEF] CLOSURE, GLOBAL: "US agrees to immediately return 4 military bases to S. Korea"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

US agrees to immediately return 4 military bases to S. Korea
Process of returning Yongsan Garrison to South Korea underway

By Noh Ji-won and Yoo Kang-moon
The Hankyoreh (South Korea)
December 12,2019 

The US has agreed to immediately return four military bases in Wonju, Bupyeong, and Dongducheon that have been closed and neglected for 8-10 years and to continue deliberating with South Korea about the question of cleaning up environmental contamination at the bases. The process of returning the Yongsan Garrison to South Korea has also gotten underway. While the two sides have created a framework for assessing responsibility for contamination at the bases even after the handover, the US isn’t likely to readily accept responsibility.

During the 200th meeting of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) joint committee at Camp Humphreys, in Pyeongtaek, on Dec. 11, the South Korean government agreed on the principle of resuming control of the American bases. The US intends to immediately hand over four bases, namely Camp Eagle and Camp Long in Wonju, Camp Market in Bupyeong, and the Shea Range at Camp Hovey in Dongducheon. These bases were all closed between March 2009 and October 2011, but the handover has been delayed until now because of wrangling between the two countries over the level of contamination and the responsibility for decontamination. Residents in the areas have been asking for the handover process to be sped up, complaining about the possibility of contamination spreading and about the difficulties posed to development plans.

…

For the entire article, see
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/920639.html

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org





_______________________________________________
Military mailing list
Military@lists.cpeo.org
http://lists.cpeo.org/listinfo.cgi/military-cpeo.org