President Lee Jae-myung pointed out that "negotiations on the return of land granted to the U.S. military seem to be dragging on too long."

Presiding over the policy briefing for the Ministry of National Defense and other related agencies at the Blue House, President Lee made the remarks and asked, "We spent an enormous amount of money to build the entire Pyeongtaek base so they could move in, yet there are many places they still haven't vacated. Even in places they did vacate, they claim some administrative procedures aren't completed, effectively leaving us unable to use the land. Isn't that a real problem?"

Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-back responded, "The U.S. side has shown a somewhat passive attitude, so we are urging them to act."

In response, President Lee said, "This is why you shouldn't pay in advance. Naturally, you would trust them based on trust between nations, but haven't things been left unfulfilled?"

He pointed out, "It cost us over 10 trillion won just to build the Pyeongtaek base, excluding the land price. Yet, they still refuse to hand it over for various reasons that sound almost like excuses, and even when they do hand it over, they attach strings to prevent us from using it. This is a real problem."

When Minister Ahn promised to "pursue the matter with a sense of speed," President Lee asked, "What about the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? Isn't the Ministry of Foreign Affairs involved?"

Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun replied, "We have worked together on this, but we will accelerate our efforts further."

President Lee emphasized, "I am bringing this up because it simply doesn't make sense from a common-sense perspective."

(Photo provided by the Presidential Photo Press Corps, Yonhap News)