South Korea made official Thursday its plan to build a grandiose national park in the center of its capital, Seoul, a park that will have historic values dating back to a Chinese invasion two centuries ago.
The park will be built on an 800,000-pyeong prime land in Yongsan to be vacated by the U.S. military after relocating its headquarters there to Pyeongtaek, a town 70 kilometers south of Seoul, by 2008. One pyeong equals 3.3 square meters.
"After China's Qing Dynasty army stationed in Yongsan in 1882, it was followed by Japanese soldiers during its imperial period in the first half of the 20th century. After the Korean War, it became the the main camp of the U.S. troops," President Roh Moo-hyun said in a speech during a ceremony at the proposed construction site.
"Yongsan is the land which has witnessed the past Korean history of sufferings," Roh said. "It will be turned into a foothold for an independent and peaceful Korea."
The South Korean government has set up a committee to organize and supervise the construction of the park which officials said will be comparable to Central Park in New York and Hyde Park in London.
According to the Yongsan National Historic Park Construction Committee under the control of the prime minister's office, the park will take about 30 years to be completed.
The theme of the park will stress "the value of hope, peace and co-prosperity of Northeast Asia," the committee said in a statement.
Under a 2004 agreement with the South Korean government, the United States will realign its troops in South Korea and relocate them to its main military hub, Camp Humphreys, in Pyeongtaek. The number of U.S. troops in South Korea is set to go down from the present 30,000 to 25,000.
The U.S. military presence in South Korea is a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Seoul, Aug. 24 (Yonhap News)
U.S. military base in central Seoul to become Korean national park |
