By Lee Tae-hoon
A senior military official has admitted that the Ministry of National Defense (MND) suggested a barter deal to lawmakers for the passage of a bill that would promote the relocation of the nation’s 16 Air Force bases.
“It’s true that the MND was willing to support the air base relocation bill in exchange for lawmakers’ help for parliamentary approval of the deadlocked defense reform bill,” a deputy defense minister said on condition of anonymity.
“I would have nothing to say, even if you call it a big deal.”
The remarks came amid growing disputes whether President Lee Myung-bak had given instructions to push for the National Assembly to endorse the relocation bill upon the passage of the defense bill.
Rep. Yoo Seung-min of the governing Saenuri Party proposed the relocation bill which would provide financial incentives to local governments that host air bases after revising a few clauses of a draft bill by the MND.
Yoo, a lawmaker representing Daegu, submitted the bill in hope of finding alternative sites for some of the country’s main military air bases around which residential areas were constructed, as is the case in his city.
Defense officials, including Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, acknowledged the need for seeking alternative sites for some air bases, including the one in Daegu, but they recently backtracked after the impasse on the defense reform bill.
The deputy minister said the MND created a draft bill, to which Yoo made a few modifications before submitting it to the National Assembly and agreed in principle on the need for its introduction.
“Have you been to Daegu and happened to be near the military air base?” he asked. “The suffering of residents, whether they moved to or reside in the area with or without the knowledge of the noise, is beyond explanation.”
The Daegu Air Force Base is where all F-15Ks, the mainstay of the country’s fighter fleet, are based.
The deputy minister, however, said that the MND is opposed to the bill because if the legislation is passed, nearly all of the local governments hosting a major military air base will demand relocations.
“I’m certain that the majority of candidates running in the April 11 general election to pick lawmakers will pledge to relocate air bases in their constituencies as Yoo did four years ago for reelection,” he said.
“But the reality is that Korea has limited land and only a few of the 16 air bases will find a relocation site, only making matters worse.”
The deputy minister said the MND was willing to cooperate on the passage of the bill as it believes the military will have more to gain in defending the nation if the defense reform bill is passed, even through a barter deal.
The defense reform bill calls for restoring operational command to the heads of the Armed Forces.
The heads of the Army, Air Force and Navy have been stripped of their rights to participate in the execution of military operations since 1991 to give more authority to the commander of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and prevent a possible coup.