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The cost of relocating the U.S. Forces Korea headquarters along with U.S. Second Division will total US$9-10 billion, with the Korean government covering some $5.5 billion and the U.S. picking up the rest, a Defense Ministry official says.
The tally is the clearest yet in a long line of confusing figures put out by both sides since the decision to move the base was made. It shows that Korea will mainly pay for the relocation of USFK Command, Combined Forces Command and UN Command, while the U.S. is covering the move of the Second Division and integration of bases and training areas across the country, as prescribed in a Land Partnership Plan between the allies.
The relocation project is divided into three parts: the Yongsan Relocation Plan, the redeployment of the Second Division, and the Land Partnership Plan.
A Defense Ministry official on Thursday said the project budget estimates that the relocation of the base will cost Korea about $5.5 billion, including the cost of purchasing the land. Of that sum, the move of headquarters from Yongsan will cost $4.5 billion and the move of another eight bases some $930 million, he said.
The figures are not final but subject to confirmation in a ¡°master plan¡± to be completed by the end of June. ¡°But we believe that the amount won't change much,¡± the official said.
The U.S. will pay between $3.5 and $4.5 billion for the integration and rearrangement of the Second Division and the bases. Even that rough estimate only recently came out when the ministry¡¯s Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Far East District announced the requirements for bidders in the massive relocation project.
Who bears the cost of moving what depends on which side sought the relocation, the official said. Thus Korea requested moving the base out of Yongsan and the U.S. wanted to move the Second Division.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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