Posted on 07/29/2017 7:36:20 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
SEOUL, July 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. forces in South Korea started moving to a new military base to the south of capital Seoul to integrate dispersed bases of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), according to local media reports.
The Eighth U.S. Army command of the USFK held an opening ceremony early Tuesday for its new headquarters at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 km south of Seoul.
It was part of the USFK's relocation plan, under which the USFK headquarters and the Eight U.S. Army in the Yongsan garrison in central Seoul as well as the 2nd Infantry Division to north of Seoul would be moved to their new bases in Pyeongtaek.
The Eighth U.S. Army is a permanently forward-deployed field unit of the USFK, the legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The USFK command was scheduled to be moved to the new base by the end of this year. Most of 28,500 U.S. forces stationed here would be moved to Pyeongtaek within this year.
The relocation plan was launched in early 2003 when then South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W. Bush agreed to the relocation project.
Under the relocation project, 91 U.S. military bases here across the South Korean territory would be relocated into two main bases around Pyeongtaek and in the country's southeastern area.
The combined size of the U.S. military bases here will be reduced to 76.75 million square meters from the previous 241.97 million square meters after completing the relocation project.
For the project, the South Korean side will pay about 8.9 trillion won (7.7 billion U.S. dollars) for the costs, while the U.S. side will pay about 7.1 trillion won (6.1 billion U.S. dollars).
(Excerpt) Read more at news.xinhuanet.com ...
You are aware there is more than one reason why.
Moving them out of artillery range I suppose.
What are those?
Isn’t this like putting all our eggs in one basket?
Yep. NK's artillery arsenal is, ummm, respectable. Especially considering its concentration.
Maybe moving them away from the border in case an attack is about to happen. That is one reason that is not pleasant to think about.
Man, the village of Dong Du Chon will become a ghost town.
W is an idiot - yongsan garrison is some of the valuable real estate in the center of Seoul, we should’ve never given it over.
Stationed at Yongsan in the 70’s great memories as a 71Q.
I too was stationed in the R O K. I was at Casey, Humphreys, Giant, & Warrior Base. Met a lot of interesting people and made some friends along the way. That was during the ramp up to the 88 Summer Olympics. Incidentally, Seoul will be hosting the 18 Winter Olympics. The tensions were high then too.
We should move our troops all the way out of their country. The Koreans are fully capable of protecting themselves without our $$$.
We should move our troops all the way out of their country. The Koreans are fully capable of protecting themselves without our $$$.
“I was stationed at Camps Red Cloud, Hovey and Casey, all North of Seoul.”
Casey was turned over to the Koreans several years ago, and I think CRC as well.
We keep trying to hand over combat missions to the ROK military, but it keeps taking longer than they think for them to step up. Along the way, units gradually redeploy further South.
Real Estate is at a high premium over there as well. Along with domestic Korean politics, there are non-military reasons that drive consolidation of US bases, in addition to the North’s artillery.
I thought anyone’s best artillary range was 18 miles. Even so, moving another 40 miles south is a good thing.
I heard that they long ago started importing Filipinas and White Russians because Koreans will no longer work as bar girls/prostitutes since they have much better prospects now.
..........I fear this is a move to get our fighters a little farther back and therefore more time to respond which is good but I also fear a bunch of our guys are going to have their young lives ended defending Asians one more time!
I was a 71R for awhile but switched back to 96B for faster promotions.
Could North Korea Annihilate Seoul with Its Artillery?
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/could-north-korea-annihilate-seoul-its-artillery-20345?page=2
Intelligence is also and interesting career choice. My spouse was a 71R in Korea and made it his career for 35 years in the civilian world.
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