by ANDREW SALMON
Long-drawn out transfer of ‘mini-America’ military base offers Korean capital a wonderful problem to solve
Any visitor who spends a day or two in South Korea’s capital will likely encounter a vast, walled-off compound just a few minutes by taxi from Seoul’s central business district.
Its red brick walls, topped with coiled razor wire, enclose 500 acres. But at the walls’ 21 gates, the average citizen is barred entry. This is Yongsan, or “Dragon Hill”: A location that was, for over a century, forbidden ground for Koreans.
Yongsan provided the HQ for Japanese imperial forces, then for the US Army in Korea. Now, the GIs have departed Yongsan for a new base, 65 kilometers south of the capital that offers a better eye on China.
But the transfer process of the base from US to South Korea has dragged on for almost two decades, is clouded with opacity and is far from complete: Less than a third of the land is currently in Korean hands.
Yongsan directly links to the sometimes uneasy history of America’s presence in Korea – as well as to the US military’s shifting posture in Northeast Asia.
Recently, it has returned to the public spotlight, given that newly elected President Yoon Suk-yeol has controversially moved the presidential office to the site.
But its real import lies in the future, for the abandoned site offers Seoul what is arguably developed Asia’s biggest urban-regeneration opportunity: The chance to create a giant, iconic park in the heart of a metropolis of 10 million people.
But the transfer process of the base from US to South Korea has dragged on for almost two decades, is clouded with opacity and is far from complete: Less than a third of the land is currently in Korean hands. Yongsan directly links to the sometimes uneasy history of America’s presence in Korea – as well as to the US military’s shifting posture in Northeast Asia. Recently, it has returned to the public spotlight, given that newly elected President Yoon Suk-yeol has controversially moved the presidential office to the site. But its real import lies in the future, for the abandoned site offers Seoul what is arguably developed Asia’s biggest urban-regeneration opportunity: The chance to create a giant, iconic park in the heart of a metropolis of 10 million people.
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