USFK Disputes ROK Government Claims that US Military Not Handing Over Vacated Property
I would think that USFK understands this is not about turning over land, but instead the Moon administration scoring political points for standing up to the big, bad Americans before National Assembly elections next year:
The U.S. military wants to set the record straight as it faces South Korean pressure to expedite the handover of bases as part of a drawn-out relocation plan.
U.S. Forces Korea is ready to turn over more than half of the bases now, including parts of Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, the command said Wednesday in a rare public display of frustration.
South Korea “recently announced that it desired to expedite the return process of 26 U.S. military installations,” USFK said. “Fifteen of the 26 U.S. military installations, including four sites specifically requested for transfer at the earliest possible date … have been vacated, closed and available for transfer to the (South Korean) government.”
“Two parcels of Yongsan Garrison have been vacated, closed and available for transfer since 2014 with another three parcels since summer 2019 for a total of five parcels available now,” it added.
Stars & Stripes
You can read the rest at the link, but the ROK government is stating that they are not accepting the hand over of the facilities that USFK has vacated because of environmental concerns knowing full well that the Status of Forces Agreement states that the ROK will accept the land “as is”.
This is a standard play call from the Korean left wing playbook. They demand the turn over of USFK facilities, but when USFK tries to do just that they play delay games declaring the property is polluted. This allows activists and politicians to grandstand and claim how USFK is polluting Korea and if it wasn’t for left wing politicians and activists they would get away with it, so donate and vote for us.
Back during the last big hand over of land during the left wing Roh Moo-hyun administration they kept claiming that the bases in the 2nd Infantry Division area were too polluted to be handed over. For example it was claimed that Camp Kyle was a no use area that required people to enter the base with anti-contamination suits. I knew this was misinformation and walked over to Camp Kyle and took a picture of people walking around with out anti-contamination suits. The propaganda got so bad that a blockbuster Korean horror movie based on the premise that USFK pollution created the monster that was going around killing Koreans.
Expect more misinformation in the coming months about how polluted the U.S. bases are and that South Korea should not pay one dime extra in US-ROK alliance upkeep costs because of it. The Korean left is likely not going to want this issued resolved until after not only next year’s National Assembly elections, but possibly the 2022 ROK Presidential election as well.
There was much ado about Camp Edwards when it was turned over. 30 years of motor pools made of rocks and shocker, there were hydrocarbons in the soil. So the US ignored the as-is clause and brought in a US firm to remove an amazing amount of contaminated dirt, replace it with clean dirt then dispose of the contaminated dirt (I always wondered where…) so the Koreans could use it. Now I have seen recent videos the Koreans are…letting nature take over. Buildings are gone, most signs of roads, concrete are also gone. Lots of the small trees we planted on Earth Day are now small forests. There is only a dirt road on the northern edge of the post leading a large open area maybe a parking lot; but I couldn’t tell and the veteran filming couldn’t tell what use the road had.
Chairman Moon the Depicable Leftist at his low down tricks again.
We all know there’s only 1 really big plot of land that the Commie Moon government wants back.
It was Koreans (admittedly using Soviet technology but Koreans nonetheless) that crossed the 38th Parallel in June 1950 and started killing other Koreans.
It was Koreans who killed Koreans in Gwanju.
And even in Seoul during the riot over who would control the Buddhist millions, it was Koreans who clubbed and stabbed each other and threw fire bombs at Korean police who were trying to stop the mayhem.
It was Koreans whose perfidy killed the 200 kids on the Sewol.
I have zero tolerance for Koreans signing contracts and then reneging on them. If a Korean cannot be trusted to honor a contract, they should not be allowed to enter contracts, their assets frozen or confiscated, and all visa cancelled.
I happen to know hindreds of Koreans who, unlike their poisonous leadership, can be trusted; but if someone proves themself dishonest, they need to pay the piper.
[And that is another reason I am glad not to be in a position to make those types of decisions.]