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Yongsan Garrison (용산기지), a facility which includes Camp Coiner, is a U.S. military base located in Seoul, South Korea. It contains the headquarters for the U.S. military presence in Korea, known as United States Forces Korea, or USFK. The site had previously been headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1910-1945.
The garrison comprises 2.5 km². (630 acres) in the heart of Korea's capital, with a golf driving range, four-star hotel and 440,000 square m (4.7 million square ft) of floor space in hundreds of buildings. The garrison is made up of two main parts, Main Post (North Post) and South Post, which are physically divided by a four-lane boulevard that links two Seoul districts together. In January 2004 a major bridge was constructed over this boulevard to solve traffic congestion problems.
Camp Coiner, covering approximately 50 acres on Yongsan Garrison's northern edge, is named after 2nd Lt. Randall Coiner, a Korean War Silver Star recipient. Since the Korean War it has served as Korea's primary inprocessing facility for Army troops. Camp Coiner has been a self-sufficient compound with its own network of barracks, shopping, and entertainment, though in recent decades it has become more integrated with Yongsan Garrison.
Yongsan Garrison is located within Yongsan-gu district of Seoul. East of the garrison is the commercial district of Itaewon, with its westernized shopping and nightlife. To the west of Yongsan is the Samgakji subway station and Yongsan Electronics Market.
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History
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Yongsan Garrison was originally created as an Imperial Japanese Army garrison in the early decades of the 20th century. At the time, the Japanese garrison was on the outskirts of the city in mostly undeveloped land. Since then, the city of Seoul has enveloped the Garrison. Several buildings built by the Japanese army and located within Yongsan Garrison are still utilized by U.S. forces, most notably the Eighth army headquarters building. Located directly across from 8th U.S. Army headquarters is the U.S. Forces Korea headquarters, a structure built around 1970. The building is home to the Commanding General, United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea.
The Korean War Memorial museum directly abuts the western edge of the north half of Yongsan Garrison. Before the construction of this museum the land was part of the Korean military command and was only slightly separated from the U.S. Army facility, both having been part of the original Japanese Garrison.
According to Stars and Stripes.The South Korean government and U.S. military officials have agreed to relocate Yongsan Garrison 55 miles (89 km) south, to Camp Humphreys near the metropolitan city of Pyeongtaek beginning in either 2012 or 2013, South Korea had traditionally regarded this garrison as insurance against the U.S. Army abandoning Seoul, located only about 65 km from the DMZ. As a result of this relocation and the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops near the DMZ, all American troops will be pulled back from north of the Han River.
The Embassy of the United States in Seoul may build a new Chancery on part of the land planned to be vacated by the U.S. Army, most probably Camp Coiner. Most of the U.S. Embassy officials live in an Embassy housing compound located in an area almost completely enveloped by Yongsan Garrison, and with direct access to it.
Note: some 297,000 square meters (77 acres) of land, including a golf course, was given back to the City of Seoul in November 1992 to become Yongsan Family Park and the site of the recently opened National Museum. The opening of the completed National museum was delayed several years while the fate of a U.S. Army helicopter landing facility was decided (its landing area directly in front of the museum). The single family suburban style housing areas, with yards and tree lined streets, plus the small wooded areas throughout the Garrison stand in stark contrast to the highly urbanized areas surrounding the facility.
Administration
Yongsan Garrison is one of nine installations in Seoul, Bupyeong, and Seongnam, commanded by the U.S. Army Garrison-Yongsan commander, and one of 179 such installations worldwide. The Installation Management Command oversees all operations necessary for the health, care and welfare of these facilities. In Korea, the Installation Management Command-Korea Region has four garrisons (Red Cloud, Yongsan, Humphreys and Daegu).
Demonstrations at Yongsan Garrison
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Yongsan Garrison and other USFK (United States Forces Korea) installations are sometimes the targets of demonstrations expressing anti-American sentiment. Most are held on the street in front of the main gate, usually during times of rush hour traffic. While the motivations of these protests has varied and included various social, political, cultural, and historical factors, as well as tensions in the overall US-ROK (Republic of Korea) bilateral relationship, military operations conducted by US forces have, on occasion, served to exacerbate this sentiment.
Death of two Korean school girls
One incident which later prompted several demonstrations at the Yongsan Garrison occurred on June 13th, 2002 at a village near Uijongbu, approximately 18 miles (30 kilometers) south of the border separating North and South Korea.1 On that day, an armored vehicle in a military convoy struck and killed two 14 year old Korean girls as they walked along the side of the road. The vehicle operators were subsequently tried in a military court and twice acquitted of negligent homicide. The acquittal sparked anti-American demonstrations in various locations, as South Koreans expressed a desire for greater control over foreign forces stationed in Korea and urged that the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the US and Korea be revised accordingly.
In addition to a series of large demonstrations at US bases and a rally attended by more than 50,000 Koreans in Seoul during the second week of December, attacks, including fire bombings, were launched at Yongsan Garrison and both the Korean and American personnel responsible for guarding US military installations in Korea. In one incident in December 2002, an unarmed US soldier, Army Lieutenant Colonel Steven A. Boylan, was attacked by three South Korean men wielding a knife outside the Garrison. Lt. Col. Boylan suffered only minor injuries.2
Facilities
Facilities in Yongsan Army Garrison include:
- 3 swimming pools
- 3 gyms
- Numerous baseball, football, and soccer fields
- A movie theater
- A bowling center
- A recreational center
- Schools
References
- ^ "US Soldiers Charged for Korean Deaths." BBC News: World Edition, 5 July 2002.
- ^ "US Soldier Attacked in South Korea." BBC News: World Edition, 16 December 2002.
See also
External links
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 9 November 2008, at 20:00.
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