South Korea Seeks Early Return Of US Military Bases, US Takes 'Positive Stance' - Seoul

The early return of US military bases in South Korea is a question that Seoul and Washington have been discussing for a long time, and the United States has taken a 'positive stance' on the matter, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo said at a briefing on Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd September, 2019) The early return of US military bases in South Korea is a question that Seoul and Washington have been discussing for a long time, and the United States has taken a 'positive stance' on the matter, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo said at a briefing on Tuesday.

Last week, the presidential office of South Korea said it would double efforts for an early return of the United States Forces Korea (USFK) military bases, currently scattered around the country, to Pyeongtaek - a city some 44 miles south of Seoul, where a sprawling military complex Camp Humphreys is located. The move has sparked speculations that the government pursued to strengthen its military leverage by gathering all US troops from across the country in a single hub amid the recent strife in South Korea's relations with Japan.

"The issue has long been discussed between the two sides in accordance with the broader scheme to move US military bases to Pyeongtaek," Choi said, as quoted by the South Korean news agency Yonhap, adding that "the US side has also shown a positive stance" and expressed hope for a "smooth transition to Pyeongtaek so as to swiftly set conditions for creating a park there as the Seoul government is planning."

The spokesperson advised against trying to link the move to the South Korean - Japanese relations, in particular, Seoul's decision to withdraw from a bilateral military pact on intelligence sharing - the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) - which in Washington was received with disappointment.

He stressed that it was "not appropriate to link the matter to recent diplomatic and security issues involving Japan and the US and to translate the government's recent announcement into something that intends to put pressure on the US."

In late August, South Korea announced its decision to withdraw from the GSOMIA pact that Seoul and Tokyo signed in 2016 amid a series of nuclear and missile tests by North Korea. Prior to that, Japan introduced export restrictions on certain materials much needed in South Korea by tech manufacturers. These steps are widely seen as a tit-for-tat to a ruling of South Korean Supreme Court in 2018 that suggested that Japan be held accountable for using forced labor of South Korean workers during World War II.

The 28,500-strong USFK contingent has been present in South Korea since 1991. Scattered across the country, the military have been occupying some of the most valuable real estate in prime locations, including the capital Seoul. Out of 80 bases, 54 have already been relocated and 26 are pending.

Their maintenance costs has long been a controversy between South Korea and the United States. Under the bilateral Special Measures Agreement (SMA), renewable every five years, the two countries share the costs of stationing the troops, but they drastically disagree on how much each side should be contributing. Since the latest SMA expiration last December, Washington has insisted that Seoul boost its spending to 1.35 trillion won ($1.2 billion) this year, a 41 percent increase from 2018 and more than South Korea is willing to make its taxpayers pay.