ID :
209911
Wed, 09/28/2011 - 10:52
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/209911
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea agreed to pay most of cost for relocating U.S. bases: WikiLeaks
By Kim Deok-hyun
SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government agreed with the United States to shoulder about 93 percent of the total cost for relocating U.S. bases in the South, but it has not yet informed its parliament and people of the 2004 deal, a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable showed Wednesday.
The cable published by WikiLeaks backed long-standing suspicions that the Seoul government would eventually bear most of the cost for the planned relocation of U.S. troops in the South to an expanded base south of Seoul, despite its official announcement that the allies would share the total cost almost evenly.
"This difference is attributable to whether and how other ROK (South Korea) contributions, such as burden-sharing costs and ROK private-sector build-to-lease construction, are counted," the U.S. cable said.
If such figures are factored in, "the ROK contribution will equal about 93 percent of the total cost," it said.
While there is no official confirmation, the U.S. has long been expected to divert South Korea-contributed funds, earmarked for bolstering joint defense capabilities, to the planned relocation of U.S. bases.
It would effectively make South Korea shoulder almost all expenses for the massive project originally estimated to cost around 11 trillion won (US$9.4 billion).
In the cable dated on April 2, 2007, Alexander Vershbow, then U.S. ambassador to South Korea, wrote that, "The sizable difference between the Korean public understanding of the costs and the reality will become a problem as construction progresses."
The U.S. encouraged South Korea's defense ministry to provide "these details" to the National Assembly, but the ministry "continued to put off this day of reckoning," Vershbow said.
Officials at the defense ministry declined to comment on the disclosed cable.
Under the 2004 deal with South Korea, the U.S. military began pushing to relocate its Yongsan Garrison, the sprawling U.S. military headquarters in central Seoul, and the 2nd Infantry Division in camps north of Seoul to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of the capital.
The timeline for relocating U.S. bases in South Korea, part of a global U.S. troop realignment for strategic flexibility, had been readjusted several times because of slow construction at Camp Humphreys and funding concerns.
In March this year, the allies inked a new agreement to complete the massive relocation project by the end of 2016.
The total relocation cost was pushed up to an estimated 16 trillion won due to inflation and the rising cost of land in Pyeongtaek and the ministry said it will shoulder about 8.8 trillion won.
The U.S. stations some 28,500 troops in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a cease-fire, leaving the two Koreas technically at war.
kdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government agreed with the United States to shoulder about 93 percent of the total cost for relocating U.S. bases in the South, but it has not yet informed its parliament and people of the 2004 deal, a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable showed Wednesday.
The cable published by WikiLeaks backed long-standing suspicions that the Seoul government would eventually bear most of the cost for the planned relocation of U.S. troops in the South to an expanded base south of Seoul, despite its official announcement that the allies would share the total cost almost evenly.
"This difference is attributable to whether and how other ROK (South Korea) contributions, such as burden-sharing costs and ROK private-sector build-to-lease construction, are counted," the U.S. cable said.
If such figures are factored in, "the ROK contribution will equal about 93 percent of the total cost," it said.
While there is no official confirmation, the U.S. has long been expected to divert South Korea-contributed funds, earmarked for bolstering joint defense capabilities, to the planned relocation of U.S. bases.
It would effectively make South Korea shoulder almost all expenses for the massive project originally estimated to cost around 11 trillion won (US$9.4 billion).
In the cable dated on April 2, 2007, Alexander Vershbow, then U.S. ambassador to South Korea, wrote that, "The sizable difference between the Korean public understanding of the costs and the reality will become a problem as construction progresses."
The U.S. encouraged South Korea's defense ministry to provide "these details" to the National Assembly, but the ministry "continued to put off this day of reckoning," Vershbow said.
Officials at the defense ministry declined to comment on the disclosed cable.
Under the 2004 deal with South Korea, the U.S. military began pushing to relocate its Yongsan Garrison, the sprawling U.S. military headquarters in central Seoul, and the 2nd Infantry Division in camps north of Seoul to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of the capital.
The timeline for relocating U.S. bases in South Korea, part of a global U.S. troop realignment for strategic flexibility, had been readjusted several times because of slow construction at Camp Humphreys and funding concerns.
In March this year, the allies inked a new agreement to complete the massive relocation project by the end of 2016.
The total relocation cost was pushed up to an estimated 16 trillion won due to inflation and the rising cost of land in Pyeongtaek and the ministry said it will shoulder about 8.8 trillion won.
The U.S. stations some 28,500 troops in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a cease-fire, leaving the two Koreas technically at war.
kdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
