[Column] U.S. violating its base move agreement

Chae Yeong-geun, Professor of Law, Inha University

The United States Forces Korea (USFK) unilaterally informed the Korean government that on July 15 it is going to return Camp Nimble, Camp Kyle, and Camp Sears, all of which closed on July 10, without first performing an environmental cleanup. For the following reasons, that is in violation of the Land Partnership Program (LPP), signed in 2004, and the agreement between the Korean and American governments on moving the USFK facility in Yongsan.

Both agreements stipulate that in the course of dealing with contaminated areas, needs that arise which go beyond the LPP will be decided in accordance with the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) and SOFA-related agreements. It was in 2003 that the U.S. and Korea, in a joint SOFA committee, agreed to the process of surveying the land being returned to Korea and the treatment of land found to be polluted. The two countries were to perform joint environmental studies, then determine how much treatment would be appropriate, the methods to be used in the cleanup, the management of land following the cleanup, and a timetable for all of it. Bases were to be returned following the implementation of the plans that developed out of that process. In the case of the facilities the U.S. says it is going to hand over on July 15, it is disregarding the stipulations called for by Korea and returning them without the USFK first performing a cleanup, and is therefore in breach of the related agreements between both countries.

Furthermore, according to the 2003 agreement, any disclosure of information must be approved by both chairs of a joint SOFA subcommittee on environmental issues. Because it wants to abide by what was agreed upon, the Korean government has refused to release information on pollution on U.S. bases and its position on the subject, despite persistent demands for disclosure by civic groups. In early June, however, USFK commander general Burwell B. Bell strongly criticized parts of the Korean government's position and released his words to the press in the process, thereby violating the related agreements.

This one-sided attitude and behavior on the part of the U.S. puts a damper on the Korean government's patient efforts to resolve the problem in accordance with the spirit and procedures provided by the SOFA. Since the USFK has openly violated the base move agreement, the Korean government is in a position to take issue with that violation and refuse to accept the land in its current form, thus putting a halt to the base relocation process.

When it comes to bases within the U.S., it is not that rare to take more than six years to survey the damage and establish cleanup plans, and the Defense Department frequently misses the deadline for closure. The same U.S. Defense Department that has been so patient in dealing with environmental issues on bases within U.S. territory is saying, without ample consultation with the Korean government, that it wants to hurriedly return these Korean bases ahead of schedule. That is a two-faced attitude that completely disregards the spirit of conflict resolution through mutual cooperation and agreement as sought by the SOFA. This unilateral approach by the Americans also goes against the desire of the Korean people for a SOFA that is more equal and fully implemented.