Yongsan Garrison
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yongsan Garrison, 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 the headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1910-1945.
The garrison comprises 2.5 square km (630 acres) 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 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 the Yongsan-gu district of Seoul. East of the garrison is the commercial district of Itaewon, with westernized shopping and nightlife; at one time it was known for its brothels. To the west of Yongsan is the Samgakchi subway station and Yongsan Electronics Market.
[edit] History
Yongsan Garrison was originally created as an Imperial Japanese Army garrison in the early decades of the 20th century. At that time the Japanese garrison was on the outskirts of the city in mostly undeveloped land. Since that time the city of Seoul has enveloped the Garrison. Several buildings built by the Japanese army, and located within Yongsan Garrison, are still utilized by US forces - most notably the Eighth army headquarters building. Located directly across from Eighth Army HQ is the UN command building, a structure built around 1970 that is home to the CINC of U.S. forces in Korea and command of all combined forces (i.e. UN, U.S. , Korea etc.).
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 US army facility, both having been part of the original Japanese Garrison.
The South Korean government and U.S. Army official have agreed to relocate Yongsan Garrison 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 probably Camp Coiner. 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 opening 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). 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. This contrast has, and still does contribute to some of the anti-American feelings by certain Seoulites.
