Yongsan Garrison

Yongsan Garrison (hangul: 용산기지; hanja: 龍山基地), located in the Yongsan District of Seoul, South Korea, is an area which serves as the headquarters for the U.S. military presence in South Korea, known as United States Forces Korea (USFK). As of 2014, it has been used as a garrison by the United States Army Garrison Yongsan (USAG-Yongsan), under the supervision of the Installation Management Command Pacific Region. The garrison previously served as headquarters for the Imperial Japanese Army from 1910 to 1945. The USFK headquarters is scheduled to relocate outside of Seoul in 2019.

History

Yongsan Garrison was originally created as an Imperial Japanese Army garrison in the early decades of the 20th century on land that had traditionally been the site of military facilities under former Korean kingdoms. The former site of the garrison was used by Qing troops during the Imo Incident in 1882. During those times, the Korean and Japanese garrisons were on the outskirts of the city in mostly undeveloped land. Since then, the city of Seoul has enveloped the Garrison. Several buildings built by the Japanese army and located within Yongsan Garrison are used by U.S. forces, most notably the Eighth Army headquarters building. Many of the older, dark-colored brick buildings on the base are former Japanese Army buildings. Directly across from Eighth Army headquarters is the Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea headquarters, a structure built in the early 1970s. The building is home to the Commanding General, United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea.