Despite reports that plans to relocate U.S. forces from Seoul were being put on hold, CNN is reporting that the razing of homes in the disputed villages near Pyongtaek have already begun.
Hundreds of workers started bulldozing part of a village on Wednesday to clear the way for the expansion of a U.S. military base set to become the Americans’ new headquarters.
The government’s move comes amid sometimes violent protests in which local residents and anti-U.S. protesters in the village of Daechuri, inside Pyeongtaek city, have clashed with police and the military over the base.
Although residents of the villages were forcibly evacuated in May, many residents and some activists have occupied about 100 of the houses to peacefully resist the base expanion plans.
Several villages around Pyeongtaek, a city of 360,000 people, would have to be razed for construction of the base. The government has offered residents financial compensation to move out of their homes, but some residents have strongly objected to the plans.
Some 90 houses in Daechuri would be removed by this week, said an official handling the issue at the Defense Ministry. He asked not to be identified, citing policy.
In May, the South Korean government evicted protesters from the village by force, but more than 220 local residents and anti-U.S. activists remain in some 100 houses — about half of the houses in the village, according to an activist group opposed to the expansion plans. The government is not planning to destroy the houses being occupied.
