S. Korean, U.S. officials meet over U.S. base relocation

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, April 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's second-highest defense official and the
commander of American forces here began talks Thursday to iron out differences
concerning the relocation of U.S. bases in South Korea, officials said.
The meeting between South Korean Vice Defense Minister Chang Soo-man and U.S.
Gen. Walter Sharp is aimed at finalizing the timetable for the relocation of
Yongsan Garrison and the 2nd Infantry Division to Pyeongtaek, about 70 kilometers
south of Seoul, the South Korean officials said.
The Yongsan Garrison is based in Seoul while the infantry division is
headquartered in the city of Dongducheon, north of the capital.
South Korea wants the relocation to be completed by 2015, while the U.S. has
stuck to the year of 2016. The two sides were also to discuss their cost-sharing
plans during the talks at the Combined Forces Command in Seoul, the South Korean
defense officials said.
The United States has 28,500 soldiers stationed here as a deterrent against North
Korea -- a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a truce rather than a
peace treaty.
It has been pushing to relocate its frontline troops south of Seoul as part of a
global realignment project. South Korea is moving to shoulder a greater portion
of its defense as it prepares to reclaim wartime operational control of its
655,000 forces in 2012.
That control was relinquished to the U.S.-led U.N. command during the Korean War.
Peacetime control was returned in 1994.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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