USFK to drastically lay off Korean employees

Camp Humphrey to station more than half of the 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in Korea. Yonhap

By Kim Hyun-bin

Hundreds of Koreans working on U.S. military bases are on the verge of losing their jobs, as most of these are being merged and relocated to the new headquarters of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).

Last week, Camp Humphreys officially opened, replacing Yongsan Garrison in central Seoul, and will be home to more than half of the 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in Korea.

Most U.S. forces located in the northern part of Gyeonggi Province, including the 2nd Infantry Division (2ID) at Camp Casey in Dongducheon, are scheduled to move to Pyeongtaek by the end of the year or early next year.

The redeployment is raising fears that the Korean workers could be let go.

Recently, 2ID sent a notice to the USFK Korean Union announcing plans to reduce its Korean workforce at Camp Casey.

The size and timings of the layoffs have not been disclosed. Currently, Seoul and Washington are negotiating on defense cost-sharing and the results are expected to directly affect this.

Seoul provides roughly half of the USFK deployment costs, which includes the costs to station U.S. troops and Korean employees' pay.

There are 4,500 Korean workers on U.S. bases in the capital and Gyeonggi Province including Yongsan, Uijeongbu and Dongducheon, and the union expects 7 percent or 300 workers to be cut in the first round of layoffs.

The union fears hundreds more will be cut before the complete relocation by 2020.

Over the last decade, 3,000 Korean workers have been laid off at U.S. bases around the country. The USFK has reduced its Korean workforce by 20 percent from 15,000 in 2008 to 12,000 this year.

The Korean workers are not protected under the country's Labor Standards Act; instead they are regulated under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which means they can be let go after 45 days notice.

“The Korean government pays for the Korean workers' payroll, but they cannot protect us,” an official at the USFK Korean Union said. “The government needs to protect Korean workers that have devoted 60 years of their lives to the security of the country as well as the U.S. troops.”