U.S. searches for new base

The U.S. ambassador to Korea, Thomas Hubbard, said yesterday that a search is under way for an alternative site for the Yongsan military garrison in central Seoul. The headquarters of United States Forces Korea is located there.
Speaking at a conference organized by the Heritage Foundation and the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council, Mr. Hubbard also said a review of possible consolidations of U.S. military bases in Korea is under way. “Our alliance goes beyond the defense of the Republic of Korea,” he said, and it “can and should encompass the promotion and maintenance of regional security, a steadily more important facet of our relationship.”
Mr. Hubbard was speaking during a week in which U.S. officials repeated nearly every day pledges to review the status of U.S. forces in Korea, most adding that the review was at South Korea’s request. The United States is accepting Korean President-elect Roh Moo-hyun’s request to “rebalance” the alliance, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday at the Pentagon.
Referring to Yongsan Garrison, Mr. Rumsfeld said, “Having a large foreign military presence in a growing, thriving metropolis like that is not really the best way to do it.”
The Korean Defense Ministry and the U.S. military have been looking for a new home for the garrison since 1988; an earlier detailed agreement to move the base by 1996 was abandoned in 1993 because of the high cost that Seoul would have to pay to reproduce the facilities at Yongsan. Current estimates of the cost of such a move reach $5 billion. Defense officials here have worked on the project in secrecy, in part to avoid stimulating protests from residents of any area that might be chosen as the new headquarters site.
Several locations are believed to be on the list of prospective new sites, including Korea’s special unit base on the border of Seoul and Seongnam city and other locations in Suwon, Osan and Pyeongtaek, all south of the capital.
Goh Kun, Mr. Roh’s nominee for prime minister, said at his confirmation hearing yesterday that the installation should not be moved too far south. Defense analysts have warned that locating it in the far south would reduce its deterrence effect.
Separately, 130 Grand National Party lawmakers signed a petition opposing the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Korea. They credited the U.S. military presence with providing stability and called the suggestion for withdrawal “senseless.”

by Kim Young-sae