Yongsan
Army Garrison
Yongsan Garrison is located in
the heart of the capitol city of Seoul, South Korea. Although Seoul
boasts a population of over 11-million Yongsan Garrison enjoys the
life-style of a suburb of a small city. Within the Seoul area there
are numerous posts and camps. The biggest installation is Yongsan,
which is the headquarters for the US military presence in Korea. Yongsan
Garrison is home to the quad-headquarters of the United Nations Command,
US-ROK Combined Forces Command, United States Forces Korea and the
Eighth United States Army. In addition, tenant units to include all
headquarters for the Major Subordinate Units are located in Yongsan.
A date for the withdrawal from Yongsan is being worked out with South
Korean authorities, but Bush administration officials initially said
they would like to begin the move in October 2003. The Pentagon plans
to then consolidate its troops at several key hubs in South Korea.
On 17 November 2003 the United States and South Korea agreed in principle
to move most American forces out of the capital city of Seoul and
south from the demilitarized zone along the border with North Korea.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was in the country's capital for
the annual Security Consultative Meeting between defense officials
from the two countries. The US and Korean governments have agreed
to move the majority of the 7,000 troop-strong American military presence
out of the Seoul area onto bases farther south. A small American presence
is likely to remain in Seoul, but that the numbers had not been agreed
to.
South Korea and the United States agreed 17 January 2004 in a meeting
held in Hawaii, US, to relocate all the US troops currently stationed
in Seoul. The two allies reached the agreement at the end of a two-day
meeting named "Future of the ROK (Republic of Korea)-US Alliance
Policy Initiative" talks. All the 8,000 US troops, including
the ROK-US Combined Forces Command (CFC) and the United Nations Command
(UNC), will move out of Seoul to Pyeongtaek before 2006. Only the
USFK general command office along with 50 relevant personnel will
remain in Seoul. South Korea will shoulder all the expenses of 3 billion
US dollars of the relocation.
Yongsan Garrison occupies some 630 acres of land just south of Namsan
Mountain. One hundred and sixty tenant units occupy 1,225 buildings
with a combined floor space of more than 4,750,000 square feet. Access
between units is provided by 20.4 miles of paved roads. The post is
divided into three major areas: South Post, North Post and Camp Coiner,
with several smaller adjacent areas [Hannam Village, Camp Kim, the
FED Compound, the Sobingo [Sabingo?] Compound, Seongnam Golf Course,
and the Retreat Center]. Yongsan Main Post hosts several major commands
including the United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, United
States Forces Korea and the Eighth United States Army. Yongsan and
surrounding installations is populated by all segments of the USFK
team, soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, as well as Department
of the Army civilians, Embassy personnel, and invited contractors.
Close to Seoul are Camps Red Cloud, Stanley, Casey, and Hovey to the
north. Nearby to the south are Colbern, K-16 and Suwon.
Additionally, the post provides all the support facilities associated
with a small city; i.e., a hospital, a fire station, a police force,
commissary and exchange facilities, schools, theaters, clubs and restaurants,
a hotel, sports and recreational facilities, water and sewage treatment
plants and emergency electrical power.
USFK has about 2,500 military personnel assigned to the quad-command
headquarters and support agencies at Yongsan. They are augmented by
about 1,000 US civilian and 6,000 Korean civilian employees. More
than a thousand KATUSA soldiers work at Yongsan, and some 3,500 military
and civilian employee family members reside on South Post, Hannam
Village, a contract housing area east of South Post, or on the civilian
economy in neighborhoods adjacent to the compound.
Yongsan is supported by the 34th Support Group. The 34th Support Group's
responsibilities include installation base operations and support
to all units in Area II, some twenty-two installations/sub installations
with a supported population in excess of 23,000 personnel. Yongsan
serves as the entertainment hub for the peninsula with thousands of
US Military and civilian personnel coming to The Dragon Hill Lodge,
121st General Hospital, Yongsan Commissary, Army and Air Force Exchange
Service facilities, as well as the numerous Morale, Welfare and Recreation
activities provided. The 34TH Support Group and Area II includes Yongsan
Garrison, Camp Colbern, K-16 Airfield, Niblo Barracks, Madison Site,
FED Compound, Camp Gray Annex, Camp Market, Camp Morse, Sungnam Golf
Course, CP Tango, Kimpo Postal Facilities, Koryosan ASA, EUSA Retreat
Center, and Yongin.
During the Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to
1945, the Imperial Army made its headquarters at Yongsan Reservation
near the Han River in a southern suburb of Seoul. After Japan surrendered
to end World War ll in 1945, US military units were sent to the Korean
peninsula to accept the surrender of the Japanese forces in the area
south of the 38th parallel. North of that line, Soviet troops took
over from the Japanese. One area the arriving American units moved
into was Yongsan, which means Dragon Mountain. US military occupation
forces -- led by XXIV Corps and the 7th Infantry Division -- provided
order, security and administration of the government pending establishment
of a single government for the entire peninsula.
A unified Korea proved impossible as the Soviets moved to seal the
border at the 38th parallel and create a communist state in the northern
zone. In 1948, following approval of a new constitution and elections
monitored by the United Nations, the Republic of Korea government
replaced the existing government defending the ROK.
The Yongsan area continued to be used by members of the US forces,
this time serving in an advisory role. The Korean Military Advisory
Group (KMAG) was formed in 1949 at the request of the ROK Government
to help develop and train security forces.
The North Korean invasion in June 1950 turned all of Korea into a
battlefield. Yongsan Reservation, like other areas of Seoul, sustained
substantial damage. The opposing forces each moved through the capital
city twice before the United Nations Command regained control.
With the war stalemated, UNC and US Forces established headquarters
at Yongsan in 1952, having control over some 630 acres of the former
Japanese headquarters. An administrative headquarters which was eventually
known for almost two decades as the Seoul Area Command, or SAC ran
the post itself.
In July 1957, Headquarters, US Forces Korea was established. At the
same time, Headquarters, United Nations Command, located in Tokyo,
was moved to Yongsan.
Many buildings used by the Japanese Army are still being used today.
A few examples: The JUSMAG building used to be the Japanese army hospital.
The Japanese cavalry and horse stables were located at what is now
Hannam Village. Eighth Army Special Troops Headquarters building was
an officer's club. And the five two-storied brick buildings on main
post which house HQ United States Forces Korea and Eighth US Army
headquarters and various staff sections served similar purposes for
the Japanese army.
Traces of the Japanese occupation are erased from Yongsan as is the
war damage that once was readily seen on perimeter walls and buildings.
The continued presence of US forces in partnership with the ROK forces
has brought many changes to the installation -- first, corrugated
tin Quonset huts that sprouted in clusters in the form of a half-moon
throughout Yongsan (and every other area where US Forces were stationed)
and then, when US military families began to slowly appear in Korea
in the 1960s and budgets permitted, in more fashionable and permanent
structures.
In October 1971, the US Army Garrison--Yongsan was removed from provisional
status and began to expand its support capabilities. Schools, more
family units and improved troop facilities were developed, only to
be interrupted for several years in the late 1970s when the planned
reduction of US ground combat forces tightened construction budgets.
Cancellation of the reduction plan in 1980 was followed by years of
improved budget situations and the transformation of Yongsan's physical
plant from an olive drab cocoon to a model installation was back on
track.
The FASTBACK system that was
replaced in Korea is reflective of the typical legacy mw systems
used by the US Army to support worldwide long haul communication
requirements. The FASTBACK system (seven individual links) provided
a secure reliable means of transmitting bulk data collected along
the Demilitarized Zone to command groups located in the southern
part of the country. The equipment (i.e., radios and multiplexers)
supporting the FASTBACK system had been in operation for over
fifteen years, utilizing technology that was over twenty years
old. The FASTBACK system consisted of an AN/FRC-162 radio and
AN/FCC-97 multiplexer. In the late 1990s it was replaced by a
high speed (155 Mbps) SONET digital microwave radio that utilize
the digital data multiplexer (DDM)-2000 OC3 multiplexer. The Digital
Microwave Upgrade DMU Phase I is a good example of what occurs
when the link bandwidth is increased (8 DS1s to 84 DS1s (three
45 Mbps DS3)) with high speed SONET digital microwave and interface
requirements to existing older, low speed mw technology. The Yongsan
to Madison, Osan to Madison, and Camp Humphreys to Madison FASTBACK
links were replaced during Phase I with the Harris MegaStar 2000
SONET radio. The remaining FASTBACK mw links between Madison and
Kamaksan, Kangwhado, and Songnam, and Kamaksan and Yawolsan, were
replaced during DMU Phase III. In conjunction with the DMU, the
digital patch and access systems (DPAS) at Yongsan, Osan, and
Camp Humphreys were upgraded to support up to three DS3s each.
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