Size of Future U.S. Military Base Tentatively Set at 3,500,000 Pyongs

The amount of land being set aside for a new U.S. military base in the Osan-Pyeongtaek area of Gyeonggi province —the point of greatest contention between Korea and the U.S. in negotiating the relocation of Yongsan Base—now appears likely to be settled at around 3.5 million pyongs.

Previously, the U.S. had asked for 3.6 million pyongs, while the Korean government had offered 3.3 million.

The two countries are planning to sign an Umbrella Agreement (UA) and an Implementation Agreement (IA) outlining the newly struck consensus on the relocation of Yongsan Base at the 10th Future of the Alliance (FOTA) Policy Initiative to be held in Washington D.C. on Thursday and Friday.

Yesterday, a high-level government official stated, “After examining the master plans for the new Osan-Pyeongtaek Base submitted by the U.S. in late June, we concluded that the request was not excessive,” adding, “Based on some working-level adjustments, we made a counterproposal of 3.5 million pyongs or thereabouts, and received a positive response from the U.S.”

Both parties also appear to have resolved most of their differences across several issues, including the relocation of the C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence) systems, living quarters for U.S. officers, standards for facilities design, and the fine-tuning of other expenses.

The government’s negotiation team will present the provisionally signed UA and IA to the president and the National Security Council at the end of this month, then submit a bill for ratification by the National Assembly within the following month.

Ho-Won Choi bestiger@donga.com