SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- In its first move to consolidate its
bases in South Korea, the US military closed an installation in Seoul
Tuesday and returned its granted land to South Korean authorities.
The return of the Arirang Taxi Compound in Seoul, a taxi service
annex for US personnel and their family members, is the first
consolidation of American installations under a 2002 land partnership plan
(LPP), Yoon Jong-shik, a spokesman for the ministry's task force on the
relocation of the US command, was quoted by South Korean Yonhap News
Agency as saying.
Under the land swap accord, the US military is to close 28 of its 41
major military camps scattered in South Korea and return more than half of
granted land of some 136 million square meters to the South Korean
government by 2011.
In return, South Korea is to provide 5 million square meters of land
for the relocation of US troops and facilities.
"The Defense Ministry got back 10,867 square meters of land in
Itaewon-dong, central Seoul, which has been provided to US forces in Korea
and used as Arirang Taxi Compound since 1962," Yoon said.
Yoon then added the Seoul city government will purchase the taxi
annex property to use it for public service and local development
projects.
The US military also plans to return a facility being used by an
ammunition unit in Osan, just south of Seoul, early next year, as a second
LPP-related consolidation, he said.
About 37,000 American troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy
of the 1950-53 Korean War. The high-profile US military presence,
especially in Seoul, has been a constant source of anti-American
sentiments among South Koreans.
The LPP is aimed at efficiently using land in South Korea, improving
the stationing conditions for American troops and bolstering the South
Korea-US combined deterrence against foreign attack, Yoon said.
In a separate program, the US military is pushing to relocate all of
its troops in Seoul and near the border with Democratic People's Republic
of Korea to the south of the South Korean capital by 2006.