U.S. military returns four bases to South Korea

[soryang]

U.S. military returns four bases to South Korea
By Thomas Maresca Dec 11
UPI

SEOUL, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The United States returned four military sites to South Korea in the biggest such handover since 2015, United States Forces Korea announced on Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach, USFK deputy commander, and Ko Yunju, director general of the North American Affairs Bureau of South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, finalized the return during a meeting at Camp Humphreys, a U.S. military base located about 40 miles south of Seoul.

Wednesday's handover consisted of Camps Eagle and Long in Wonju, parcels of Camp Market in Bupyeong and the Shea Range parcel at Camp Hovey in Dongducheon.

United States Forces Korea has an additional 13 completely vacated and closed sites ready for return, it announced in a press statement.

More:

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2019/12/11/US-military-returns-four-bases-to-South-Korea/4751576042645/

The second half of the article describes how South Korea increased its "burden sharing" 8 percent last year, and also built the 10 billion dollar US installation for US Forces Korea at Camp Humphreys. The two allies should be able to share the confidence and goodwill arising from the construction of the "largest overseas US military base in the world," and the process of returning the older installations to South Korean control. Instead we have unwarranted and unnecessary damage being inflicted on the alliance by Trump's ridiculous demand for an increased 5 billion dollar military cost sharing burden from the current level of about one billion dollars. Trump's incompetent civilian Defense and State Department representatives are currently still trying to bully the South Korean government into submission to this outrageous demand more characteristic of the excesses of past imperialism in Asia. There is no basis in the SMA or the history of negotiations for the demands made by the US; the representatives are simply creating new categories of costs not in the agreement to support Trump's "transactional" over reach.

[Backseat Driver]

1. If the House has oversight of its process

of impeachment of POTUS, all EOs and military "commands" of that Office should be run through the House to ensure there be no retaliatory activities for charges of unfaithfulness to oath, obstruction, and abuse of power, all very serious failings by whomever would wield signing and direct command: seems common sense.