Cheong Wa Dae: "Progress in Comprehensive S. Korea-U.S. Agreement on Military Airport Relocations, Including Gwangju"

▲ Cheong Wa Dae

Cheong Wa Dae stated that discussions regarding a comprehensive agreement between South Korea and the United States to facilitate military airport relocations are making progress, and that the relocation of U.S. military facilities within Gwangju military airport will accordingly proceed without issue.

The site of Gwangju military airport has been selected as the location for establishing a semiconductor cluster in the Honam region, one of the key initiatives under the government's "Three Mega-Projects."

Wi Sung-lac, Director of the National Security Office, held a press briefing at Cheong Wa Dae today (October 30) and said, "Between South Korea and the U.S., there are military base relocation plans other than Gwangju, and we agreed to formulate an agreement to facilitate these relocations and have been negotiating the text."

The two nations held consultations to resolve the Gwangju military base relocation by including it within the agreement, and the negotiations, which had been stalled over several contentious issues, have recently seen progress.

Director Wi explained, "Once the comprehensive agreement is concluded, a framework will be established for the relocation of the Gwangju base, along with other bases."

Gwangju military airport, designated by the government as the site for the Honam semiconductor cluster, is a Collocated Operating Base (COB) jointly used by the air forces of South Korea and the U.S. The two nations have been discussing the signing of a comprehensive agreement to establish common relocation procedures and frameworks applicable to five COBs, including those in Gwangju and Daegu.

Referring to concerns raised yesterday (October 29) during the National Assembly Steering Committee's parliamentary audit that the establishment of the Honam semiconductor cluster could be delayed if the U.S. military is reluctant to leave the Gwangju base, Director Wi said, "From the U.S. military's standpoint, having to relocate because such a facility is being built in Gwangju was likely sudden news," adding, "Immediately after the decision (to build the semiconductor cluster) was made, both sides began consultations."

He continued, "There is no indication that the U.S. is refusing to relocate, holding out to obstruct (the relocation), or trying to extract anything."

Director Wi noted, "We need to construct alternative facilities so that (the U.S. military) can move their existing facilities there," adding, "If we wish to advance the timeline (for the relocation), we would need to build the replacement facilities faster, which could mean there will be more work for us to do."

Regarding the remaining challenges, he added, "These are mainly issues we must prepare for ourselves, such as the budget (for providing replacement facilities)," and "it does not need to be viewed as such a serious problem."

(Photo: Yonhap News)

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