US returns to S. Korea 4 of military bases on Korean Peninsula

SEOUL - The United States on Wednesday returned to South Korea four of its military bases here, agreeing to launch consultation for the return of a garrison in central Seoul, South Korea's foreign ministry said.

The two sides held the 200th joint committee meeting of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which stipulates a legal status of about 28,500 US troops stationed here, at Camp Humphreys, a US military complex in Pyeongtaek, some 70 km south of capital Seoul.

After the meeting, the United States agreed to immediately return four of its military bases on the Korean Peninsula, which were already closed between 2009 and 2011, to South Korea.

The four bases were Camps Eagle and Long in Wonju, some 130 km east of Seoul, Camp Market in Bupyeong, just west of Seoul, and the Shea Range at Camp Hovey in Dongducheon, just north of Seoul.

It was part of the broader relocation scheme of the US Forces Korea (USFK) to consolidate US military bases here into two garrisons in Pyeongtaek and Daegu, about 300 km southeast of Seoul.

Among a total of 80 US military installations here, 54 had already been handed over to South Korea. Twenty-two military bases had yet to be returned as the return process of four bases was completed earlier in the day.

The return procedure of the four bases was delayed on differences between Seoul and Washington over which side is responsible for decontamination of the bases.

The presidential Blue House of South Korea decided in August to push for the return of the four bases given worries about an additional contamination, caused by the handover delay, and the adverse impact on development projects near the returned bases.

The Seoul ministry said it agreed with the US side to continue consultations on decontamination procedures that indicate the opening of a door for improved environment management in US military installations.

South Korea and the United States also agreed to initiate the handover process of the Yongsan Garrison in central Seoul, once home to the headquarters of the USFK.

The agreement was reached to prevent an excessive postponement of the project, announced in 2005, to create a national park in Yongsan, the Seoul ministry said.