U.S. embassy fails to pay 250 billion won in overdue rent

SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Yonhap) -- A leading civic group demanded Tuesday that the U.S. embassy in Seoul apologize and immediately remit the 250 billion won (US$189 million) in accrued rent it has failed to pay over the past three decades.

Citing a parliamentary inspection report by an opposition lawmaker, Korea
Solidarity for Progress denounced the United States for neglecting its overdue
payment while pressuring Seoul to contribute more to maintain American troops
here.
"They are not paying rent at all," Jeong Yong-joon, an activist for the group,
said after a rally in front of the embassy. "With such things not having been
cleared, isn't it too much to ask (South Korea) to take on a bigger share of the
troop costs?"
The Korean government allowed the U.S. embassy to use its current facility in
central Seoul for free beginning in 1962 in recognition of a U.S. aid operation
in Korea, called the United States Operations Mission.
But the aid mission was terminated in 1980, and the two countries agreed that the
U.S. embassy would be moved to a new location and its current space returned to
the Korean government.
The embassy, however, retained use of its office building, along with nearby
staff residences and the Embassy Club inside U.S. military headquarters in
Yongsan, without paying rent. U.S. diplomatic facilities in Seoul are estimated
to cover roughly 80,000 square meters of land in total.
According to the report presented by Rep. Lee Mi-kyung of the main opposition
Democratic Party during the ongoing parliamentary inspection, the unpaid rent by
the U.S. over the past 28 years amounts to 250 billion won, or about 9 billion
won a year. The estimation was based on a report by the Defense Ministry from
2000, which surveyed equivalent rental costs of the downtown area where the U.S.
embassy facilities are located.
The lawmaker noted that it is exceptional for a U.S. mission to not pay rent, and
said the U.S. embassy in Japan reportedly paid 2.5 million yen (US$24,200) to the
Japanese government every year until 1997 and has since been charged more.
Even if the free use of public land is mutually understood, the lawmaker said,
"It is still not fair as the Korean government is paying more than US$1 million a
year in rent for Korean diplomatic buildings in the U.S."
The Foreign Ministry said there have been disagreements between Seoul and
Washington on the issue, but did not elaborate on whether it will seek payment
from the U.S.
"There have been differences between Korea and the U.S. with regards to levying
rental charges on the U.S. embassy here for its use of public land," said Moon
Tae-young, the ministry spokesman, "and in interpreting whether the free
provision of land has been terminated."
The two sides are trying to resolve the embassy issue in connection with the
relocation of U.S. military bases out of Seoul, which is expected to be completed
by 2012 at the earliest, Moon said.
Seoul and Washington have also yet to agree on sharing the cost of maintaining
the 28,500 American troops stationed in Korea. The U.S. is asking Seoul to
increase its share to 50 percent from the current 42 percent.