Dongducheon City Seeks to Attract Gwacheon Racecourse to Returned U.S. Base Site Jibbols Training Ground

Dongducheon City Officially Declares Bid to Host Racecourse
"Annual Tax Revenue of 50 Billion Won and Policy Compensation for 75 Years of Sacrifice for National Security"

Dongducheon City in Gyeonggi Province has officially launched a bid to attract the Gwacheon Racecourse relocation currently under government review, presenting the Jibbols Training Ground, a former U.S. military base returned to Korea, as the optimal alternative site.

View of Dongducheon City Hall. Provided by Dongducheon City Hall.

The city’s position is that this project must go beyond a simple facility relocation and become a turning point for promoting balanced national development and resolving the long-standing issue of returned but unused U.S. military bases.

As the government’s recent housing supply policy has moved forward, discussions on relocating the Gwacheon Racecourse have gained momentum, and reviews are underway to identify alternative sites within the Seoul metropolitan area. In response, Dongducheon City announced a plan to link the returned base sites, for which no viable use had been found, with national policy projects and turn them into a catalyst for urban development.

The Jibbols Training Ground, located in Gwangam-dong, Dongducheon City, is a returned U.S. military base site of about 11.95 million square meters, a large-scale tract of land that is rare even within the Seoul metropolitan area. Its development was restricted for a long period while it was used as a military facility, and even after its return, it has not been systematically utilized.

The city regards this site as a strategic space capable of accommodating large-scale national policy projects. Officials explain that, as a city that has provided extensive U.S. military base sites for national security over the past 75 years, utilizing the returned land in connection with national development could serve as a practical opportunity to transform the city’s structure.

In particular, the Jibbols Training Ground site is drawing attention because it is well suited for creating a stay-type, mixed-use leisure and experiential complex that takes advantage of its mountainous terrain. Core facilities can be laid out efficiently, while the sloped terrain and forests can be connected to experience and relaxation areas, enabling a differentiated spatial composition. If linked with nearby forest-experience infrastructure such as the Dongducheon Natural Recreation Forest and the Nolja Forest, it is also expected to generate synergy by expanding nature-based leisure functions.

An official from Dongducheon City stated, "For decades, Dongducheon City has borne significant limitations on urban development for the sake of national security," adding, "The relocation of the Gwacheon Racecourse must become a turning point for strategically utilizing the long-unutilized returned U.S. military bases at the national level."

The official went on to say, "The Jibbols Training Ground is a site with sufficient spatial potential and locational competitiveness to accommodate large-scale policy projects within the Seoul metropolitan area," and emphasized, "In cooperation with the central government, Gyeonggi Province, and related agencies, we will make this a model case of utilizing returned base sites that simultaneously achieves national development and mutual growth with the local community."