Pyeongtaek
Encyclopedia
Pyeongtaek is a city
Administrative divisions of South Korea
||South Korea is divided into 8 provinces , 1 special autonomous province , 6 metropolitan cities , and 1 special city...

 in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

. Located in the southwestern part of the province, Pyeongtaek was founded as a union of two districts in 940
940
Year 940 was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Saadia Gaon compiles his siddur in Iraq.* Narita-san Temple is founded in Chiba, Japan....

 AD, during the Goryeo dynasty. It was elevated to city status in 1986, and is home to a South Korean naval base and a large concentration of United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 troops. The Korean government plans to transform Pyeongtaek city to an international economic hub to coincide with the move of the United States Forces Korea
United States Forces Korea
United States Forces Korea refers to the ground, air and naval divisions of the United States armed forces stationed in South Korea....

 (USFK) to Pyeongtaek. During the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

 it was the site of an early battle between US and North Korean forces, the Battle of Pyongtaek
Battle of Pyongtaek
The Battle of Pyongtaek was the second engagement between United States and North Korean forces during the Korean War, occurring on July 6, 1950 in the village of Pyongtaek in western South Korea...

.

Military base

The United States and South Korea Government came to an agreement to enlarge Camp Humphreys, a US Army installation outside Anjeong-ri
Anjeong-ri
Anjeong-ri is a community located in the southwestern area of Pyeongtaek City, Gyeonggi Province, Republic of Korea. Anjeong-ri is located on the perimeter of USAG Humphreys, a US Army facility undergoing rapid expansion. In 1919, Japan built an airfield in Anjeong-ri...

, a community in Pyeongtaek, and move the majority of US forces stationed in Seoul and North of Seoul to the Camp Humphreys area. Invoking eminent domain
Eminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...

, the government obtained the surrounding land for the base expansion.

The move originally included the headquarters of the Combined Forces Command, which has operational control of ROK (Republic of Korea), US, and UN combined forces during wartime. In March 2007, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates
Robert Gates
Dr. Robert Michael Gates is a retired civil servant and university president who served as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense from 2006 to 2011. Prior to this, Gates served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, and under President George H. W....

 and ROK Minister of Defense Kim Jang-soo agreed to dissolve the ROK-US Combined Forces Command on April 17, 2012. This would allow ROK forces to have wartime control of its military during a military confrontation with the North. The US/ROK agreement allows USFK to move to one centralized location away from the congestion of Seoul and its surrounding areas. This relocation agreement results in returning two-thirds of the land currently used by the United States Military back to the Korean government. By 2008, the US Military will have consolidated 41 installations down to just 10 due to the relocation agreement.

The United States Forces Korea's only jail facility in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

 is located at Camp Humphreys
Camp Humphreys
Camp Humphreys or USAG-H is a medium-sized United States Army garrison located near Anjeong-ri and south of Pyeongtaek metropolitan area in South Korea. Camp Humphreys is located 55 miles south of Seoul and is one of the U.S. Army's fastest growing installations...

. The village of Anjeong-ri
Anjeong-ri
Anjeong-ri is a community located in the southwestern area of Pyeongtaek City, Gyeonggi Province, Republic of Korea. Anjeong-ri is located on the perimeter of USAG Humphreys, a US Army facility undergoing rapid expansion. In 1919, Japan built an airfield in Anjeong-ri...

 is located outside the Camp Humphreys main gate.

As planned, Yongsan Garrison
Yongsan Garrison
United States Army Garrison Yongsan is located in Seoul, South Korea and is home to the headquarters for the U.S. military presence in Korea, known as United States Forces Korea , as well as the headquarters for the Eighth United States Army and Installation Management Command Korea Region...

, located in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

, and the Second Infantry Division will be moved to the same area by 2019. The South Korean government's handling of the surrounding land has led to conflict with local farmers in Daechu-ri, Paengseong-eup due to the planned expansion of Camp Humphreys.

Recently, there have been heightened protests against the construction of the new USFK headquarters near Pyeongtaek. Moreover, authorities evicted protestors from occupying the elementary school and working the fields where the base will be built by placing barbed wire at the boundary of the future base.

Struggles erupted on May 4 2006, when some 13,000 South Korean military soldiers and riot police arrived to guard the land where the new Camp Humphreys was to be built. Farmers could not get to their own land to cultivate their rice. When troops arrived to set up the fencing, residents moved in to block them. The activists claim South Korean military troops injured over 200 people and rounded up 500 more. However, none of the Soldiers were armed on this day and the riot police's main role was to prevent the protestors from attacking the soldiers. On May 5 2006, an undetermined amount of unarmed Korean Army soldiers were attacked by protestors with pipes and sticks after the riot police prevented the protestors from breaching the site. After a public outcry from the parents of some of the soldiers who were attacked, the government started to equip the soldiers with bamboo sticks and armor. It was the first time since the 1980 Kwangju massacre
Gwangju massacre
The Gwangju Democratization Movement refers to a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju, South Korea from May 18 to May 27, 1980. During this period, citizens rose up against Chun Doo-hwan's military dictatorship and took control of the city...

 that the South Korean military, as opposed to riot police, were used against demonstrators.

Pro-expansion protests were also witnessed during this time but at a much smaller scale. The main arguments of the pro-expansion protests were that the protestors that were occupying the Daechu-ri Elementary School were not farmers from the local area but were from an organized anti-US civic group from outside of Pyeongtaek. They estimated that less than 10% of the individuals that were protesting the expansion of Camp Humphreys were actually farmers that were being evicted.

Osan Air Base
Osan Air Base
Osan Air Base , is a United States Air Force facility located in the Songtan section of Pyeongtaek City, South Korea, south of Seoul. Despite its name, Osan AB is not within Osan City, which is to the north. The base is the home of the Pacific Air Forces' 51st Fighter Wing, and a number of tenant...

 is located in Songtan
Songtan
Songtan is an area in the northern end of Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggido, South Korea. Songtan achieved city status in its own right in 1981, five years earlier than Pyeongtaek, but merged, along with Pyeongtaek County, into Pyeongtaek City in May 1995. Most residents still consider it to have an identity...

, a district in Pyeongtaek City.

See also

  • Camp Humphreys
    Camp Humphreys
    Camp Humphreys or USAG-H is a medium-sized United States Army garrison located near Anjeong-ri and south of Pyeongtaek metropolitan area in South Korea. Camp Humphreys is located 55 miles south of Seoul and is one of the U.S. Army's fastest growing installations...

  • Songtan
    Songtan
    Songtan is an area in the northern end of Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggido, South Korea. Songtan achieved city status in its own right in 1981, five years earlier than Pyeongtaek, but merged, along with Pyeongtaek County, into Pyeongtaek City in May 1995. Most residents still consider it to have an identity...

  • USFK
  • List of cities in South Korea
  • Geography of South Korea
    Geography of South Korea
    South Korea is located in East Asia, on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula jutting out from the far east of the Asian land mass. The only country with a land border to South Korea is North Korea, lying to the north with of border running along the DMZ. South Korea is mostly surrounded by...


External links

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