YONHAP NEWS

(News Focus) S. Korea in dilemma between alliance, environment

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, June 13 (Yonhap) -- The most hated word of Gen. B.B. Bell, chief of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), to describe his troops is "polluters," according to people close to the commander, who repeats the publicity-oriented catchphrase "Gachigapsida (Let's go together)."
His inclinations represent how the 29,500 American troops stationed in South Korea are struggling to clean up their tainted image as they hand over land and facilities to Koreans as part of their global realignment.

   The USFK has come under growing criticism since it returned nine military bases to the Seoul government last month after two years of tough negotiations on environmental clean-up.

   Critics argue that the USFK returned the decades-old bases without appropriate decontamination measures, especially regarding soil and underground water, thereby passing a huge financial burden to taxpayers here. They say the South Korean government is also to blame, as it hastily accepted the bases without monitoring their environmental conditions.

   Government officials point out that although the USFK's clean-up efforts were not perfect, the base return process was carried out properly, in line with the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

   "We decided to end the talks and get the bases back, as the USFK showed no sign of making further concessions," a ranking Defense Ministry official told Yonhap News Agency, asking not to be named.

   He said that wasting more time in the war of attrition could harm the alliance between Seoul and Washington, a view supported by Bell.

   Politicians are poised for their own investigation into the process in question.

   Lawmakers of the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee said they will conduct an on-site inspection Thursday at three bases north of Seoul, which were returned last month.

   The inspection is part of preparations for a two-day hearing from June 25 on the issue, in which Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo, and Lt.Gen. Stephen G. Wood, the USFK's deputy commander, are scheduled to testify.

   "We will focus on whether or not the process of returning the bases was appropriate," said Rep. Woo Won-shik, who recently bolted from the pro-government Uri Party.

   Still, it remains uncertain whether the lawmakers will shed light on the allegations raised by environmental activists.

   A problem is that related stipulations in the SOFA are so ambiguous. They require the U.S. to "promptly undertake to remedy contamination ... that poses a known, imminent and substantial endangerment to human health."
South Korea and the U.S. appear to have no difference in the "known" part. They agree that many of the U.S. bases returned or to be returned are polluted, either seriously or not. But they remain apart over the scope of contamination deemed imminent and substantial.

   "Because of the vague agreement in the past, current negotiators are having difficulty in hammering out a compromise," the Defense Ministry official said.

   He emphasized that Seoul and Washington have already lost too much time and mutual trust due to the environmental issue.

   Activists criticize the government for what they say is its blind alliance-first policy.

   "The government has ignored the environmental issue under the pretext of alliance," Go Ji-seon, spokeswoman for Green Korea said. "A thorough review is needed on who should be held responsible to prevent the government from committing similar wrongdoings in getting back other U.S. military bases."
A USFK spokesman declined to comment on the matter, saying the returned bases are no longer under its authority.

  lcd@yna.co.kr
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