US agrees to S. Korean timetable for relocation of its base in Seoul

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- The United States has agreed to a South Korea-proposed
timetable for relocating its military command from Seoul to south of the capital
by 2014, a defense official here said Monday.
The United States had initially proposed that the relocation of the Yongsan
garrison to Pyeongtaek, about 50 kilometers south of Seoul, be completed by 2019,
citing costs.
The defense ministers of the two allies recently agreed on the timetable at a
meeting in Seoul, but the two sides have yet to finalize the year for the
relocation of a major U.S. infantry division from north of Seoul to Pyeongtaek,
the official speaking on customary condition of anonymity said.
The relocation is part of a multi-billion-dollar U.S. project to realign and
streamline its troops abroad.
Some 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed here as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
South Korea technically remains at war with North Korea as the conflict ended
only with an armistice agreement, not a peace treaty.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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