[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Delayed Again: ROK-US Combined Forces Command Relocation to Pyeongtaek

On the 6th, at the Collier Field Gymnasium of the Yongsan US Military Base in Seoul, Vice Commander Kim Seung-gyeom is presenting a commendation to a meritorious person at the 42nd anniversary ceremony of the establishment of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command. / Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Military Specialist Yang Nak-gyu] The relocation of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command headquarters from Yongsan, Seoul to the Pyeongtaek US military base is expected to be possible only by October. This is about three months later than originally planned, as the construction of the Combined Forces Command headquarters building at the Pyeongtaek base is reportedly delayed.

On the 24th, a military official said, "The regular ROK-US combined exercises in the second half of this year are also expected to be centered around the Yongsan Combined Forces Command headquarters."

In 2019, then-Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo and Acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan held a defense ministerial meeting in Seoul and pushed for the relocation of the Combined Forces Command. Some opposed the relocation, as the Combined Forces Command's presence in Yongsan was seen as a symbolic representation of the ROK-US alliance.

Former ROK-US Combined Forces Command Commander Vincent Brooks also stated in a lecture invited by the National Unification Advisory Council, "In the case of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, the headquarters will remain in Seoul," adding, "It is located together within the Ministry of National Defense compound where the ROK Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are, allowing the military capabilities of the ROK-US alliance to be concentrated in one place."

The Park Geun-hye administration also agreed during the 46th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in October 2014 that even if the Yongsan base was relocated to Pyeongtaek, part of the Combined Forces Command would remain at the Yongsan base.

Under the current administration, former Presidential Chief of Staff Lim Jong-seok instructed in May 2017, after receiving a report from the Ministry of National Defense, to "completely reconsider the Combined Forces Command headquarters' stay at the Yongsan base and explore options to relocate it to the Joint Chiefs of Staff or elsewhere."

However, disagreements arose between the ROK and the US over the Yongsan stay. While there was an attempt to relocate the Combined Forces Command to the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul instead of the Pyeongtaek base, differences emerged over the relocation costs. The Korean side argued that it could bear the costs for the Combined Forces Command headquarters' infrastructure but that the US side should cover remodeling expenses. Conversely, the US side emphasized that the Korean side should bear all costs related to construction, operation, and maintenance of the facilities.

Subsequently, the Combined Forces Command settled on relocating to the Pyeongtaek base. If the plan had proceeded as scheduled, the relocation would have been completed within this year. The US side plans to establish an Operation Center, the "brain" of the Combined Forces Command, in the basement of the building where the Combined Forces Command will be housed at the Pyeongtaek base. This Operation Center will be connected via a C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence) system to the Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii and the US Forces Japan headquarters at the Yokota base in Japan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.