U.S. returns part of land of military bases to S. Korea

SEOUL, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Friday approved returning to South Korea part of the land of its military bases in and around the capital Seoul, according to the South Korean foreign ministry.

The land return was approved at a telephone conference held between representatives on the two sides of the joint committee of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which governs the legal status of about 28,500 U.S. troops stationed here.

The returned swaths of land include around 165,000 square meters of land inside the 500,000-square-meter Yongsan Garrison of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) in central Seoul, and the site of Camp Red Cloud in Uijeongbu, some 20 km north of Seoul, as well as a water detention basin of Camp Stanley in the same city.

A joint statement said the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to work closely together to complete the return of a considerable portion of the Yongsan Garrison by early this year.

The land return is part of a broad relocation plan to consolidate U.S. military bases here into a garrison in Pyeongtaek, about 70 km south of Seoul, and another in Daegu, some 300 km southeast of the capital.