Tag: Yongsan Garrison

Ozone alert issued

This photo shows a view of Seoul from Namsan Park on May 4, 2024, as an ozone alert was issued in 14 districts in Seoul. (Yonhap)

I did not even realize the gas station on old Yongsan Garrison was still open:

The gas station at Yongsan, one of the last vestiges of a once-busy headquarters compound, is preparing to turn off its pumps after 32 years of service. The station, on a hill overlooking Seoul, will close May 1 as part of a plan to return sections of the base to the South Korean government, according to an Army and Air Force Exchange Service news release Tuesday. The gas station reported average monthly revenue of $70,000 between 2021 and 2022, AAFES spokesman Chris Ward said in an email Thursday.

The monthly average fell to $50,000 the following year “and has experienced even further significant declines” in 2024, he said. Six of eight pumps still in service sat idle for more than two hours Wednesday afternoon. The only cars in the lot were parked there by drivers who exited the base through a nearby pedestrian gate.

Jerry Chandler, an anti-terrorism program manager at Yongsan and a four-year South Korea resident, said he is disappointed by the station’s looming closure. Chandler — one of the roughly 500 service members, Defense Department civilians and U.S. embassy staff who still live or work at Yongsan — said he and his wife fill up their two cars with premium gas “all the time” at the station.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but I also did not know that about 500 servicemembers and DOD personnel are still working on Yongsan Garrison.

At least some more parts of the old Yongsan Garrison is being used as a public park. Hopefully this continues instead of just filling in this land with apartments:

A repurposed section of Yongsan Garrison, once the U.S. military’s primary headquarters in South Korea, opened to the public as a park on Thursday during a ceremony convened by South Korean President Yoon.

Over 200 kids and parents attended the grand opening of the Yongsan Children’s Garden, a newly developed 74-acre park in Seoul, according to a news release from the presidential office. 

Yoon at the ceremony praised the park’s construction and said there are “no decent fields in our country where children … can run as much as they want,” according to the release.

The opening ceremony took place on the eve of Children’s Day, a South Korean national holiday.

The park is next to the presidential office and includes a cafe, a walking trail lined with sycamore trees, a baseball field and a soccer field. Its location is meant to “serve as a bridge between the government and the people,” the release said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This is pretty much the last thing that needed to move off of Yongsan Garrison:

The headquarters of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) will relocate to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, this month, ending a four-decade presence in Seoul’s Yongsan District.    
   
The South Korean Defense Ministry said Tuesday that the relocation of the CFC’s headquarters is expected to wrap up by the end of the month.    
   
“Through the relocation, the CFC plans to establish an even stronger combined defense system based on a strengthened alliance spirit and operational efficiency in Pyeongtaek, the new cradle of the alliance,” the ministry said in a statement. (……)

Approximately 700 South Korean and U.S. personnel currently serving at the CFC’s Yongsan headquarters will begin moving to Camp Humphreys starting early this month, while the CFC plans to hold a ceremony in November marking the end of the command’s era in Yongsan.   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the end of the Dragon Hill Lodge may happen in the near future:

The government is in talks with U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) about having the site of Yongsan Garrison’s Dragon Hill Lodge returned to South Korea in exchange for an alternative plot of land, sources said Monday.

According to foreign and defense ministry officials, the two sides have been in negotiations to return a 105,000 square-meter site hosting Dragon Hill Lodge, situated next to the presidential office in central Seoul, to the South Korean government. 

In return, Seoul will provide a plot of land at a different site. 

The sources said the two sides are expected to reach an agreement in the near future. 

Seoul and Washington had previously planned to retain a U.S. military base at the Dragon Hill Lodge site to host a liaison office for USFK and the United Nations Command as well as a front office for the ROK/US Combined Forces Command in the wake of the U.S. forces’ relocation to Pyeongtaek.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

As predicted it seems like less and less of Yongsan Garrison will become a park:

The incoming Yoon Suk-yeol government is planning to convert part of a U.S. Forces Korea base adjacent to the new presidential office in Yongsan into a cultural space reminiscent of a “Little LA” and open it to the public in September, officials said Sunday.

The 500,000-square-meter space is just outside the defense ministry headquarters, which is being converted into the new presidential office.

The USFK plans to return the land to the South Korean government at the end of this month as part of its ongoing relocation to Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul.

“We plan to let the people see it in its exotic state as much as possible,” an official involved in the project told Yonhap News Agency, noting the area features various religious, educational and sports facilities used by the USFK.

More facilities could be added, such as cafes and exhibition or concert halls, to evoke a sense of “America Town” or “Little LA.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I guess using this portion of Yongsan to create this “Little LA” area is better than just putting up more apartment buildings. Any predictions on how much of the old Yongsan Garrison actually becomes a city park?

For the first time USFK has had to deal with a cluster infection from the coronavirus:

Coronavirus clusters at the U.S. Army’s largest installation in South Korea and at its former headquarters in Seoul are forcing personnel to “shelter in place” throughout the long holiday weekend.

The order, announced at 6 a.m. Saturday on U.S. Forces Korea’s official Facebook page, went into effect immediately for those stationed at Camp Humphreys — headquarters for USFK, Eighth Army and the 2nd Infantry Division — and Yongsan Garrison, 55 miles to the north. It expires at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.

“USFK defines ‘shelter in place’ as remaining at your residence – including other occupants or residents – except for life, health, safety and essential services to include food and medicine purchases,” the announcement said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but USFK has had 19 new infections since Thursday and they try to conduct contact tracing to identify other potentially infected people. Having people shelter in place is help stop any spread while the contact tracers do their work.

Here is the latest on the development of the Yongsan Park:

The idea of creating Yongsan Park became official in 2005 after the Roh Moo-hyun administration and the U.S. agreed to relocate troops there to Pyeongtaek. 

In 2007, the National Assembly passed a special act on the creation of the park and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport began allocating resources for it.

No one expected the relocation would take so long. 

One reason for the delay was that government had to find money to finance the Yongsan Relocation Plan ― which it was supposed to pay for. Occasional provocations from North Korea were also a factor that influenced the project. 

Now, the former U.S. site is more than 90 percent empty. 

The land ministry projects the park will be opened in 2027, but many, including the Ministry of National Defense responsible for the site return negotiations, are cautious, only saying it will largely depend on the talks which are expected to hit a stumbling block over the issue of soil contamination. 

The land ministry has got many things done so far.

In 2012, it selected a team of architects and urban planners to design the park ― the final version of the plan was made public last week and can be found at park.go.kr. 

The ministry is also carrying out aggressive public awareness campaigns about the park. 

In 2018, the ministry began offering tours of the garrison, inviting a limited number of residents to see the historic buildings and sites.

On Aug. 1, the ministry is opening up the 50,000 square meters of land that used to be a residential compound for U.S. military officers and their families. The land was returned to Korea in 1986 but instead of opening up to the public immediately, the government built new houses and rented them to USFK personnel until the end of last year.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but how many people think all of Yongsan Garrison will be turned into a park? I also wonder if the historic Imperial Japanese era buildings will be torn down as well.