19th Korea-U.S. Cooperation Meeting Held…Green Light for Early Return of Camp Mobile in Dongducheon

A green light has been given to the early return of the Camp Mobile site in Dongducheon.

On the 13th at 4:30 p.m., Gyeonggi Province and the United States Forces Korea (USFK) held the "19th Korea-U.S. Cooperation Meeting" in the situation room of the North Branch of Gyeonggi Province Government, co-chaired by Kim Dong-geun, Vice Governor of Administration, and Ted Martin, Commander of the U.S. 2nd Division. The meeting was attended by approximately 30 participants, including representatives from U.S. Eighth Army, U.S. Seventh Air Force, Installation Command, city and county officials, and Korean military authorities.

At the Korea-U.S. Cooperation Meeting, 14 major issues related to USFK were discussed, including the early return of Camp Mobile in Dongducheon, safety measures around Rodriguez Range in Pocheon (Yeongpyeong Firing Range), commemorative events marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. 2nd Division, and measures to reduce aircraft noise around the Pyeongtaek U.S. military base.

First, the delayed return of the Camp Mobile site has been hampering flood prevention projects in Dongducheon City, and this development provides relief.

Originally, Gyeonggi Province and Dongducheon City have been promoting the "Sincheun Channel Expansion" project for a 3.6-kilometer section from Sangpae-dong to Sangbongam-dong since 2013 to prevent flood damage.

Construction was originally scheduled to begin in 2016, but the delayed return of Camp Mobile has hindered project implementation.

To resolve this issue, the agenda has been discussed since the first half of 2016 at working-level meetings of the Korea-U.S. Cooperation Council, and finally, at last year's SOFA subcommittee, an agreement was reached to return the Camp Mobile site in phases for early return.

The early return site covers approximately 50,000 square meters of the western area, and depending on the results of the environmental baseline survey by the Ministry of Environment by the end of this month, the timing of environmental remediation and methods will be determined. It is expected to be returned within this year, and flood prevention construction is also expected to proceed without delay.

At the meeting, discussions focused on safety measures regarding stray bullets estimated to have been generated from U.S. military helicopter training fire near a pig farm in Seongdong 2-ri, Yeongjoong-myeon on April 1st.

In response, U.S. Eighth Army explained that to ensure safety at the training ground and surrounding areas, they completed safety wall construction (five locations) within the training ground's impact area in October of last year. Since January of this year, U.S. Eighth Army and the U.S. 2nd Division have maintained 24-hour joint operations at the civil affairs operations center outpost within the training ground, maintaining hotlines with local residents and preparing for any contingencies.

Furthermore, on April 6th, U.S. Eighth Army Commander Thomas Vandal, U.S. 2nd Division Commander Ted Martin, and Rep. Kim Young-woo, Chairman of the National Defense Committee, visited the area near Rodriguez Range in person, held meetings with local residents, and discussed countermeasures.

At the meeting, Vice Governor Kim Dong-geun stated, "For mutual understanding and improved relations between local residents and USFK, Gyeonggi Province and USFK must cooperate actively," and added, "Today's Korea-U.S. Cooperation Meeting was a good opportunity to reaffirm the partnership cooperation between Gyeonggi Province and USFK," emphasizing the role and importance of the Korea-U.S. Cooperation Council.

Meanwhile, the Korea-U.S. Cooperation Council, first established in November 2002, has held 18 plenary sessions and 29 working-level meetings to date.