Yongsan Garrison

Yongsan Garrison (龍山基地, Yongsan Kichi) occupies a historically strategic site in central Seoul, South Korea, approximately one kilometer south of Seoul Station. The area has served military purposes since at least the 13th century, when Mongol forces reportedly used Yongsan as a logistics base during their invasions of Korea. In 1882, during the Imo Incident, Qing Chinese troops were stationed in the area alongside Japanese military forces intervening in Korean affairs.

The modern military base was established in 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War, when the Imperial Japanese Army purchased approximately 3 million tsubo (roughly 9.9 km²) of land in Yongsan and constructed permanent barracks to support the thousands of troops pouring into Korea. The army headquarters moved to the new compound on 1 October 1908. From 1910, following Japan's annexation of Korea, Yongsan Garrison served as the headquarters of the Korea Army (朝鮮軍, Chōsengun) — the Imperial Japanese Army command responsible for all military operations on the Korean Peninsula. The garrison housed not only the army headquarters but also military hospitals, training facilities, armories, and residential quarters for officers and their families. Many of the dark-colored brick buildings constructed during this period still stand today.

The Korea Army (朝鮮軍) was one of the major overseas commands of the Imperial Japanese Army. Originally established as the Korea Garrison Army (韓国駐箚軍) in 1904, it was renamed the Chōsen Garrison Army on annexation in 1910 and reorganized as the Chōsen Army in 1918. The command was responsible for maintaining Japanese colonial control over Korea and played a role in the mobilization of Korean laborers and soldiers during World War II. The headquarters was initially located within Seoul's old city walls but relocated to Yongsan in 1908, where it remained until February 1945, when the Korea Army was replaced by the 17th Area Army, which held Yongsan until Japan's defeat in August 1945.

Following Japan's surrender on August 15, 1945, approximately 15,000 troops of the U.S. Army's 7th Infantry Division occupied the former Japanese barracks at Yongsan in September 1945. The base was initially designated "Camp Seobingo" before being renamed "Yongsan" (meaning "Dragon Hill") in 1952. After a brief withdrawal of American forces in 1949, the Korean War (1950-1953) brought U.S. troops back to Yongsan, which became the permanent headquarters of United States Forces Korea (USFK) and the U.S. Eighth Army. The garrison's north section ("Main Post") housed USFK and Eighth Army command facilities, while the south section ("South Post") contained housing, schools, hospitals, and recreational facilities for military families.

In November 1992, South Korea received 297,000 square meters of land from the garrison, including a former golf course, which was transformed into the Yongsan Family Park and the site of the National Museum of Korea. In April 2003, the two governments agreed on the Yongsan Relocation Plan to move U.S. forces out of central Seoul. On June 29, 2018, the USFK headquarters completed its relocation to the newly built $11 billion Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, approximately 70 km south of Seoul, ending 73 years of American military command presence at Yongsan. By the end of 2019, over 20,000 U.S. troops and family members had relocated. The U.S. retains a small portion of the site for the Dragon Hill Lodge and a future embassy relocation, but the vast majority of the roughly 2.5 km² (630-acre) site is being returned to South Korean control for conversion into Yongsan Park, one of the largest urban parks in Asia.