CFC completes move from Yongsan to Pyeongtaek

Defense

Published: 15 Nov. 2022, 16:41 Updated: 15 Nov. 2022, 18:35

CFC completes move from Yongsan to Pyeongtaek

South Korea’s Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup, left, Combined Forces Command (CFC) Commander Gen. Paul LaCamera, center, and Deputy CFC Commander Gen. Ahn Byung-seok salute during a ceremony marking the completion of the CFC relocation to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

The South Korea-United States Combined Forces Command (CFC) wrapped up the relocation of its headquarters from Seoul to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Tuesday.

“The relocation of about 700 soldiers from the CFC headquarters began early last month and was successfully completed within a month,” the CFC said Tuesday. “The relocation ended 44 years of the CFC presence in Yongsan [in central Seoul].”

Washington and Seoul reached an agreement to move the CFC from Yongsan to Pyeongtaek during a ROK-U.S. Defense Ministerial meeting in June 2019, and promised to complete the relocation in 2022 at the 53rd ROK-US Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in December 2021.

Camp Humphreys, occupying an area of 14.7 million square meters, is the largest U.S. military base overseas and home to the United States Forces Korea (USFK), U.N. Command, 8th Army and the 2nd Infantry Division.

The CFC held a ceremony Tuesday to commemorate the completion of the relocation at Camp Humphreys with South Korean and U.S. military leaders attending, including Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and CFC Commander Gen. Paul LaCamera.

“Amid a time of escalating threats from North Korea, the opening of a new chapter of the CFC’s operation in Pyeongtaek is significant,” Lee said at the ceremony on Tuesday. “The cooperation system between South Korea and the U.S. will further be solidified as the CFC troops, that had for the past few years worked separately in either Yongsan and Pyeongtaek, will work together shoulder-to-shoulder.”

Expressing expectations that the relocation will strengthen the allies’ joint defense posture, the defense minister added, “I hope that South Korean and U.S. troops at the CFC can build a firmer ‘Fight Tonight’ [operational readiness] posture.”

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is in Bali attending an annual Group of 20 summit, sent a congratulatory message and called on the CFC troops to work as a “one team.”

LaCamera, as quoted in Yonhap, said, “The ironclad commitment of the United States has not changed, nor has our bond.

“Our pledge to defend our homelands to strengthen our alliance to build coalitions has not changed either,” noted LaCamera.

Launched in 1978 and stationed in Yongsan ever since, the CFC leads the allies’ joint efforts to counter potential North Korean provocations and aggression.

Since its establishment, the CFC has been conducting full-scale joint exercises twice a year based on an all-out war concept. This year, the name of the joint exercise in the second half was changed to Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) in consideration of the changed security environment.

The CFC said its relocation to Pyeongtaek will not only strengthen the cooperation system and alliance spirit between South Korea and the U.S., but also "enhance operational efficiency and serve as an opportunity to further solidify the joint defense system of the two nations."

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]