By Jun Ji-hye
A U.S. military base in Uijeongbu in Gyeonggi Province will be turned into tourist facilities after U.S. forces there move to Pyeongtaek, the city government said Wednesday.
The U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division (2ID) stationed at Camp Red Cloud (CRC) is scheduled to be moved to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek next year in accordance with Seoul and Washington’s plans to relocate the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). Pyeongtaek is located 70 kilometers south of the capital.
“We will come up with detailed plans by February 2018 to turn CRC into a tourist complex,” the city said in a release. “Toward that end, we recently commissioned a study to a private, specialized company.”
Once the 628,000 square meters of land are vacated, the city is planning to create a complex in which visitors can learn about Korea’s modern and contemporary history as well as the importance of national security.
The city is also considering using records related to the Korean War, World War II and the Vietnam War, currently stored in a CRC war museum.
After detailed plans are prepared and a feasibility and profitability study is conducted, the city will ask the central government to lead in the construction.
The city expects the envisioned complex will be especially attractive to tourists, together with another cultural complex there whose construction is scheduled to be completed in 2018. The cultural complex will host a Pororo theme park, featuring the popular animated character, and family hotels as well as YG Entertainment’s YG Global K-Pop Cluster.
But city officials are raising concerns about the exact timing of the relocation of 2ID.
The construction of the new 2ID headquarters in Pyeongtaek began in April 2014, but the work has reportedly fallen behind schedule.
The USFK earlier vowed to relocate 2ID by the end of 2016, but this was later delayed until early 2017.
“The USFK has yet to inform us of the exact timing of the relocation,” a city official said, asking not to be named. “We will prepare plans to create the tourist complex regardless of such timing.”
Seoul and Washington previously signed two major relocation plans ― the Yongsan Relocation Plan (YRP) and the Land Partnership Plan (LPP).
The YRP is to vacate Yongsan Garrison, relocating most facilities and forces including the USFK and the Eighth Army headquarters to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, in 2017, while 2ID will redeploy also to Pyeongtaek under the LPP.