[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] The Core of Yongsan Base Relocation is the 'ROK-US Combined Forces Command'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Although South Korea and the United States have agreed to strive for the return of 25% of the area of the Yongsan US military base in Seoul by early next year, it is expected to take a long time for the entire Yongsan base to be returned. In particular, if the relocation of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command is delayed, the timeline will inevitably be pushed back further.

According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 31st, since the agreement during the Roh Tae-woo administration in June 1990 to relocate the Yongsan base to the Osan and Pyeongtaek areas, the plan was not realized until the Roh Moo-hyun administration, when the Combined Land Management Plan was agreed upon in 2002 and the Yongsan Base Relocation Agreement in 2004, marking the start of the relocation process. The original plan was to complete the relocation by 2008, but the schedule has been delayed for over 10 years.

The core of the Yongsan base relocation is the ROK-US Combined Forces Command. The current return area includes zones within the South Post where the US military has completed its relocation, including schools, playgrounds, and officers' quarters. The northern Main Post is still in use by the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, so the areas available for return are limited.

In 2019, then-Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo and Acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan held a defense ministerial meeting in Seoul and pushed for the relocation of the Combined Forces Command. Some opposed the relocation, viewing the Combined Forces Command's presence in Yongsan as a symbolic representation of the ROK-US alliance.

Former ROK-US Combined Forces Command Commander Vincent Brooks also stated in a lecture invited by the National Unification Advisory Council, "The headquarters of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command will remain in Seoul," adding, "It will be located together within the Ministry of National Defense compound, where the ROK Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are situated, allowing the military capabilities of the ROK-US alliance to be concentrated in one place."

This is why the Park Geun-hye administration agreed during the 46th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in October 2014 that even if the Yongsan base relocated to Pyeongtaek, part of the Combined Forces Command would remain at Yongsan.

Under the current administration, former Presidential Chief of Staff Lim Jong-seok instructed in May 2017, after receiving a report from the Ministry of National Defense, to "completely reconsider the Combined Forces Command headquarters' stay at Yongsan base and explore options to relocate it to the Joint Chiefs of Staff or elsewhere."

However, disagreements arose between South Korea and the US over the Yongsan stay. South Korea wanted to relocate the Combined Forces Command to the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, rather than the Pyeongtaek base, but differences emerged over relocation costs. South Korea argued that while it could cover costs related to the Combined Forces Command headquarters' infrastructure, the US side should bear remodeling expenses. Conversely, the US insisted that South Korea should cover all costs related to construction, operation, and maintenance of the facilities.

Subsequently, the relocation plan settled on moving the Combined Forces Command to the Pyeongtaek base. If the plan had proceeded as scheduled, the relocation would have been completed within this year. The US side plans to establish an Operation Center, the "brain" of the Combined Forces Command, in the basement of the building where the command will be housed at the Pyeongtaek base. This Operation Center will be connected via C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence) systems to the US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii and the US Forces Japan Command at Yokota Air Base in Japan.

However, construction of the Combined Forces Command building at the Pyeongtaek base is currently about 70% complete. The procurement of construction materials from the US mainland has been delayed due to COVID-19, and the delay in the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) between South Korea and the US has reduced the urgency to accelerate the project.

There are criticisms that the delay in OPCON transfer is also slowing down the relocation of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command. The plan to relocate the Combined Forces Command by the end of 2021 was made with the intention of transferring wartime operational control by 2022, the last year of the Moon Jae-in administration.

A military official stated, "The Combined Forces Command building under construction in Pyeongtaek is a highly secure facility even within the US military, so it requires approval not only from the US Department of Defense's security review but also from the US Departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, and Communications. However, due to COVID-19, even on-site inspections are difficult."