Yongsan Garrison
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The Yongsan Garrison 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 the headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1910-1945.
The garrison comprises 2.5 square km (630 acres) of suburban-style living in the heart of Korea's capital city, 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 separated into Main Post and South Post, with the two parts connected by an overpass bridge over a major local street. The overpass was a recent innovation and was completed in January of 2004 to solve traffic issues between the two sections of the post. The popular commercial district of Itaewon is located just east of the garrison.
The South Korean government and U.S. Army official have agreed to relocate this facility 55 miles south, to Camp Humphreys near the metropolitan city of Pyeongtaek beginning in 2008. South Korea had traditionally regarded this garrison as insurance against the U.S. Army abandoning Seoul, which is 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 of the U.S. Embassy officials live in an Embassy housing compound located in an area almost completely enveloped by the Yongsan Garrison, and with direct access to the Garrison.
Note: some 297,000 square meters (77 acres) of land, including a golf course, was given back to the City of Seoul in November of 1992 to become Yongsan Family Park and the site of the recently opened National Museum. The opesning of the completed National museum was delayed by several years while the fate of a U.S. Army helicopter landing facility was decided (the landing area was directly in front of the museum).
