Inclusive Local Governance System for Ambivalent Relationship and  Cohabitation between Local Communities and the USFK:

｢지방정부연구｣  제11권 제4호(2007 겨울) : 291～310

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New Agendas for the Pyeongtaek Local Community*

지역사회내 주둔미군과의 공존을 위한 포용적 지역거버넌스 체제:

평택지역사회를 위한 새로운 아젠다

양 기 용

* This work was supported by Pukyong National University Research Foundation Grant.

지역사회내에 존재하는 미군에 대하여 지역주민들은 애증병존의 감정을 가지고 있다. 한편으로는 국가안보나 지역내 경제활동을 위해 긍정적인 역할을 인정하면서도 지역사회에 미치는 부정적인 영향이나 개인적인 피해로 인해 실망하거나 부정적인 인식을 하고 있다. 주한미군에 대한 기존논의는 지역사회가 전적으로 부담하고 있는 비용과 피해에 대한 논의보다는 국제정치적인 관점에서 주한미군의 전략적 역할이나 중앙정부 차원에서 이루어지는 SOFA개정방안이 주를 이루고 있어 피해의 핵심지역인 미군 주둔 지역사회에 대한 논의가 구체적으로 이루어지지 못하고 있다. 본 논문은 지역사회의 입장에서 불가피하게 주둔하고 있는 미군과의 공존 가능성을 주민들과 주둔미군에 대한 설문결과를 인용하여 검토하고, 포용적 지역거버넌스 시스템 구축을 통하여 주둔미군과 지방정부 및 지역사회간의 갈등을 해결하고 예방하는 협력적 방안으로 제안하고 있다. 아울러 이러한 포용적 지역거버넌스체제의 구조적, 과정적, 인지적 특성을 검토하고, 미군사령부와 제2사단이 이전할 평택지역에서 이러한 포용적 지역 거버넌스체제가 정착될 수 있도록 실천적 아젠다를 제시하고자 한다.

주제어 : 주한미군, 한미동맹, 로칼 거버넌스

Ⅰ. Introduction

Riot police with batons, shields and water canon clashed with protesters throwing stones and swinging wood sticks around, and more than 1,000 protesters and farmers were evicted from the site of a planned U.S. Army base in Pyeongtaek area, Gyonggi Province, Korea. A wire-topped fence was built by military engineers around the area where the U.S. military headquarters, now located in Yongsan, at the center of Seoul, is supposed to be transferred by 2012. About 13,000 riot police and 2,800 soldiers were involved in the 10 hours operation (Jung Ang Daily, 2006). During the serious confrontation, the Korean central government, in particular the Department of Military played a pivotal role in the process of negotiation with the protestors. On the contrary, there is hardly room to be found for local governments and local communities to involve in solving the conflicts.

Meanwhile, at that time of the same day in Seoul, hundreds of U.S. soldiers and other foreigners are walking around shopping, and enjoying various kinds of food and entertainment on the street of Itaewon, near to the Yongsan U.S. military base. More than 15 hundred businesses are welcoming foreign customers, including U.S. troops; businesses selling clothes, leather goods, bags, shoes, etc. No militancy against the U.S. forces such as exploded in Pyeongtaek area can replace the worm hospitality between foreign tourists and Korean storekeepers on the Itaewon streets.

The two contrasting scenes that unfolded in different places on the same day, show us the contradictory feelings toward the foreign military forces in Korea. During the last 60 years, the U.S. forces in Korea (hereinafter the USFK) have been considered both as a benevolent guard liberating and protecting against exterior enemies such as Japan and North Korea, and as an arrogant foreign superintendent who have seemed to be beyond the control of the Korean government and Korean people. Consequently, there is a wide spectrum of Korean attitudes on the USFK (Yang, 2005). One perspective believes that the USFK have played a critical role in guaranteeing Korean national security; and the USFK stationing and solid military alliance between South Korea and the U.S. should continue. On the other hand, an opposing view disputes the above and claims that the sovereign status of the USFK has produced a lot of legal, social and environmental problems in Korea. This critical perspective believes the unbalanced relationship between the Korean Government and the USFK should be corrected. Even though a few extreme activists have insisted that the USFK completely withdraw, the political and strategic situation around the Korean Peninsula during the last 60 years has convinced the majority of Korean people to accept the presence of the USFK without a serious objection.

During the 1990s, however, serious crimes and environmental pollution committed by the USFK have provoked Korean people angry and raised objections to the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement), which prescribes that the USFK has primary jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed while on duty. For example, on June 2002, two U.S. soldiers operating an armored vehicle and ran over two Korean girls, killing them. The accident and following criminal lawsuit process against them raised the anger of many Korean people and massive protests against the USFK and the SOFA. Currently, the issues related with the USFK, in particular the relocation of the U.S. Military bases into the Pyeongtaek area, have become more popular, and ordinary Korean people have paid more attention to these issues than before.

However, the local governments and local communities which were forced to host the USFK bases have not been allowed to become involved in the process of dealing with the issues. Local governments and local communities do not have an effective leverage to affect the policies of the USFK local bases. The USFK authorities as well as the Korean central government are reluctant to include the local governments and local communities in their policy making processes. The opinions, the interests and the sufferings of the local communities are not adequately represented in the process of handling those issues which are very critical to the fate of the local communities.

From this point of view, the paper tries to look for the new ways of cohabitation and cooperative relationship between local communities and the USFK. Differing from the macro approaches focusing upon the strategic roles of the ROK-U.S. military alliance, the new approach suggests an inclusive local governance system. And, the nature and characteristics of the inclusive local governance system will be discussed. Based upon the survey results of local residents as well as the USFK, the perceptions of local residents on the USFK and the attitudes of the USFK on the local communities will be described and the possibility of building the inclusive local governance system will be reviewed. Finally, policy alternatives and new agendas for the Pyeongtaek area will be suggested for a new type of cooperative interrelationship between local communities and the USFK.

Ⅱ. Macro Level Approaches on the USFK and Missing Link

1. Macro Approaches and New Alliance Management

On the issues of the USFK, existing discussions are mainly interested in the military and strategic role of the USFK on the Korean peninsula as well as in the Northeast Asian region. These macro-level approaches have focused upon the historical process and roles of the military alliance between ROK and the U.S. in terms of national security as well as regional military strategy. Most of these studies(Smith, 2006; Kim, Sung Han, 2003; Kim, Tae Hyo, 2003; Dujarric, 2003) recognize the decisive role of the USFK in maintaining a balance of power in these regions and acting as a successful deterrent of potential limited warfare across the DMZ.

Despite the importance of the USFK, these studies suggest that the nature of the alliance needs to be changed gradually depending upon the new situation on the Korean peninsula and the Northeast Asian region. As a matter of fact, as Cummings indicates, even though the worldwide cold war era had ended during 1980s, the fifty years of enduring cold war between two Koreas persists to date. The animosity, distrust, exclusiveness and stiffness established among the principal actors competing around the Korean peninsula including military allies of two Koreas was so inveterate that the worldwide detente mood could not warm the cold wave between two Koreas (Cummings, 1997). However, new geopolitical conditions such as the cooperative mood between South and North Korea initiated by "the sunshine policy" and the rise of the Korea's socio-economic status demand a new type of alliance relationship which is different from the lopsided relationship established at the crisis period during the Korean War.

In particular, Korean younger generations who did not experience the Korean War and '50s to '60s hard times of survival with the US economic aid tend to have different attitudes toward the USFK and the U.S. foreign policies. They are also different from the radical students of '70s and '80s who protested against the military regimes and the U.S. government from the ideological standpoints (ROK-U.S. Joint Panel, 2003; Kim, Sung Han, 2003). Gen. Leon J. LaPorte, Commander of the USFK testified to the US Congress in March, 2003 that many South Koreans under 45, with strong national pride, and who have lived in an era of peace and prosperity, perceive North Korea not as a threat but rather as a Korean neighbor. He argued that this view differs from the America's view which perceives the North Korea as a threat to regional and global stability, and has been a cause of periodic tension in the ROK-U.S. alliance (LaPorte, 2003).

Consequently, the military alliance between the ROK and the US which had been constructed around the targeting of a common enemy has become to ask its another rationale. Since overall the alliance system has not been able to respond these new conditions, a crack in the alliance began to widen. This phenomenon is called as alliance fatigue (Kim, Tae-hyo, 2003), which causes chronic troubles between the USFK and the Korean authorities as well as Korean people. Both alliances are asked to adjust themselves to the new conditions, and new type of alliance management is also required in order not only to maintain the existing solid alliance relationship but also to cultivate the alliance in the new era. The new type of alliance management assumes a flexible and reciprocal relationship responding to the new conditions rather than a unilateral relationship between two alliances.

For this, the alliance management includes the policy consultation system between two military and non military authorities as well as the solidification of economic cooperation and individual networks between two countries. It also emphasizes the increase of popular support for the alliance as well as the stationing of the USFK in Korea (ROK-U.S. Joint Panel, 2003). However, these macro-level discussions on the new alliance management mainly focus upon a more close consultative mechanism between the ROK and the U.S. central government authorities. It does not give enough attention to the unfair loss suffered by local communities. The macro level discourse have also failed to look for the way in which local communities and local governments represent their opinions and interests to the USFK and involve in the coordination process of dealing with the USFK issues.

2. The Missing Link

Crimes, environmental pollution, intolerable noises caused by aircraft and armored vehicles, traffic accidents, and damage to the crops during the military operations, as well as trespassing on private property etc.; all these unhappy happenings and incidents have occurred in local communities. These local communities are Dongduchun, Paju, Eijungbu, Pyeongtaek, Kunsan and Daegu extending all over the South Korea. During the authoritarian regimes until 1990s', however, local communities could not express their complaints officially. Ordinary Korean people living in elsewhere have been indifferent to the sufferings and costs of these local communities. Even though they have been much concerned about the withdrawal of the USFK from Korea, they tend to take it for granted that certain costs and burdens carried by someplace should be borne for the sake of national security. Local communities' sufferings and difficulties in everyday life have not counted for much except when very serious accidents or crimes related with the USFK occur.

There was no official communication channel for the local governments to gain access to the USFK authorities stationed in their territories. The USFK authority used to open its communication channel only to the Korean central government. Therefore, local residents and NGOs have protested their sufferings and damages caused by the USFK through demonstrations in front of the USFK Base gate. Local governments have also tried to consult and exchange the information with the USFK divisional authorities, but they have been forced to keep only ceremonial and informal contacts with the USFK very sporadically and privately. Not only the USFK authorities but also the Korean central government has not paid enough attention to the voices from the local communities. The Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, have not paid enough attention to the misfortunes suffered by local communities. They have not allowed local governments and local communities to join in the negotiation process with the USFK authorities.

In the macro-level approaches focusing on the USFK's strategic role and their legal status in Korea, the U.S. Forces and the related issues are basically the agendas for the both ROK and U.S. central governments. During the revision process of the SOFA, the local communities and governments had few chances to advance their opinions and interests in the negotiation and decision making process. More importantly, the new amended SOFA provisions do not have any regulations to let local governments join the formal consultative channel with the USFK authority. On the other hand, at the micro-level discussion, many survey results have been limited to the analysis of the attitudes or perceptions of individual respondents on the various issues related to the USFK such as the necessity or timetable of the USFK stationing in Korea, the necessity of the SOFA revision and the opinions about the crimes committed by the USFK.  It is very surprising that there have been few discussions on the issues of the USFK from the perspectives of local governments and local communities. The extents and the causes of conflicts related with the USFK in local communities have not been investigated adequately. This kind of discourse has been almost missed. Therefore, it is necessary to look at the issues of the USFK from the standpoints of the local communities which happened to host the USFK into their regions unwillingly. The macro level and micro level discussions on the USFK issues can be complemented with the deliberation of local communities and local governments that incur the greatest difficulties from the USFK. This integrated understanding and the new governance system will enable various stakeholders including local governments, local communities, the central government, and the USFK, to communicate and to share their ideas, feelings and resources one another.

Ⅲ. The Pyeongtaek Communities and Inclusive Local Governance System

1. Relocation Process and Pyeongtaek Local Communities

The Yongsan USFK' headquarter, located at the center of downtown Seoul more than fifty years, has produced a lot of complaints. The relocation of the Yongsan base has been a hot issue between ROK and US during the last two decades. Since 1988, two governments have begun to discuss how and when to relocate the Yongsan bases. In 1990, Memorandum of Agreement was made and both countries agreed to relocate the Yongsan bases into southern areas of Han River as soon as possible. Agreement between the ROK and USA on the relocation of United States Forces from the Seoul Metropolitan area was signed in 2004 and relocation principles and procedures was decided. At the same time, the Land Partnership Plan(LPP) signed by both Ministers of Defense Department decided to relocate most of the USFK bases and training camps scattered all over the nation into the integrated bases around Pyeongtaek areas.

Into the Pyeongtaek area, by 2012, the Yongsan Base as well as the 2nd Infantry Division of the USFK is supposed to relocate. The expansion of Camp Humphreys is under way, and the projected Camp Humphreys population of nearly 44,000 soldiers, civilians, Korean employees, contractors and families (Monaco, 2006). A new local community with considerable size and populations, which would be under the jurisdictional control of the USFK rather than that of Pyeongtaek City Government, will be constructed. It means that troubles caused by the USFK are going to be concentrated in the Pyeongtaek area. Unless conflicts with local communities are to be controlled and managed more systematically, the local communities in Pyeongtaek areas will face a great burden of sufferings and break up.

In order to mitigate the objection of local residents against the USFK relocation, a special law was enacted to aid local residents as well as the Pyeongtaek City government. It includes provisions (1) to facilitate the relocation process and the base construction in the Pyeongtaek areas; (2) to compensate local residents who are supposed to remove; (3) to support various local development projects improving physical infrastructures, built environments, living and education conditions in the Pyeongtaek areas; (4) to support the Global Newtown Plan for building international commercial and residential space in the Pyeongtaek area.

While local residents and the Pyeongtaek City governments are expecting new opportunities of regional economic development, on the other hand, they are very much concerned about the negative impacts of the concentrated USFK bases into their communities such as crimes, soil and water pollution and the distortion of urban physical structure. In particular, local residents who were compelled to give up their farmland are worrying about their alternative means of living in the future. In order to solve and prevent these problems practically, local communities and the Pyeongtaek city government should engage in extraordinary efforts to open the opportunities to work together with the USFK authorities. New ways of interaction and communication system are needed to build the bridges connecting local communities with the USFK practically and emotionally.

2. The Nature of Inclusive Local Governance System

Current relationship between local communities and the USFK has been somewhat estranged. As a matter of fact, the USFK bases can operate without much dependency upon supplies and provisions from outside the camps. Excepting a few services, such as electricity and gas, the USFK bases are almost self-sufficient. Therefore, they do not feel much necessity of cooperating and communicating with local communities and local government. Even though the USFK bases are located within communities, they are working like autonomous islands. The relationship with local governments and local communities is very limited. Under this kind of decoupled system, the USFK bases are not willing to exchange even minimal information about military exercises and armored vehicles' movement which affect the local residents' daily life. If local communities are considered as a billeting place where the USFK happens to stay for a while, they might not care much about local communities as a living place. In these situations, damages and accidents have continued due to the negligence of the USFK. They are likely to concern less about the pollution of soils and water near the bases and noises caused by aircrafts and armored vehicles. They have been reluctant to find ways how to prevent these negative impacts and to cooperate with local communities.

In the face of the new political and social realties, the existing apparatus operating among the local governments, local communities and the USFK has been challenged. In place of the old-fashioned unitary relationship between the central government and the USFK and a decoupled system between local governments and the USFK, a more inclusive and extended multi-faceted local governance system is needed. The concept of governance has diverse meanings(Peters, 1995; Rhodes 1977; Pierre, 2000). According to Rhodes(1977), as a vogue word for reforming the public sector, the concept of governance covers various political and administrative phenomena and connotations such as 'the minimal state', 'corporate governance', 'new public management', 'good governance', 'socio cybernetic system' and 'self organizing networks'. Governance, in some cases, refers to formal and informal political rules for the exercise of power and settling conflicts (Hyden, 1999), and, in other cases, it extends its application to the transnational and global organization and phenomena(Rosenau, 1999). The concept of governance used to confine its application into the interaction and coordination among domestic stakeholders, the traditional separation between domestic and international matters become to be blurred in the USFK issues. Rather, it is better, as Bache and Flinders(2004) argues, for the concept of multi-level governance to capture the shifting and uncertain patterns of interactions between local communities and the USFK across contested jurisdictional and territorial boundaries beyond the state.

In general, the concept of governance can be defined as the a new type of governmental apparatus, institutions or mechanism coordinating social changes and replacing existing unilateral hierarchical administration(Lee, 2002, Jung, 2001; Kim, 2000). Under the governance system, boundaries between the public, private and voluntary sectors have been changed. This new structural configuration has been accompanied by changing process, especially the emergence of networking as the principal way in which major policies and programs are managed and delivered, and through which information and interests are exchanged and coordinated among multiple stakeholders (Rhodes, 1977). Therefore, the structural configuration and process of local governance system include following characteristics: 1) mutual recognition and inclusiveness of each other as a significant local actor in the community decision making process; 2) interdependency and reciprocal collaboration through the exchange of  resources; 3) network institutionalization for communication and conflict management (Peters & Pierre, 2003; Rhodes 1977; Pierre, 1999).

In here, the inclusive local governance system means a much extended governance apparatus through which current conflicts between local communities and the USFK can be managed or prevented systematically. Under this inclusive local governance system, the major direction of the fundamental policies related with the USFK legal status and military strategies is set by the negotiations between the central government and the USFK, but ordinary interactive affairs happening in local communities need to be handed over to local government and local community organizations. Thus, the inclusive governance system can encourage cooperation and interdependency between local communities and the USFK by exchanging services and information which will be beneficial to both of them. Local governments can take steps actively to help the USFK through the exchange and guidance of public and social services such as sewage services, gas and electric services, traffic services, and emergency services collectively. Information exchange about military exercises, road constructions and various local activities will be helpful in building new bilateral and interdependent relationship. Cultural activity programs, sisterhood relationship between small groups such as local schools and churches with the USFK, volunteer activities of the USFK can make it possible to understand each other much better.

If these kinds of cooperative activities are to be institutionalized reciprocally, local governments, local communities and the USFK need to coalesce into a inclusive local governance system. As <Table 1> illustrates, the inclusive local governance system is different from the old decoupled system in terms of communication, service exchange and perceptions of each other. This inclusive local governance system embraces various local actors, who have been outside the local governing process of dealing with the USFK issues. By exchanging various resources and information each other and building up trust and sympathy, exclusive local actors become interdependent.

Through this kind of governing network, the existing decoupled mechanism can be integrated to construct more inclusive governance system and to coordinate local problems as well as to institutionalize the ways of problem solving in their local communities. In this new inclusive governance system, the USFK can become incorporated into the community structure as a significant local actor(Yang, 2005). The USFK, local governments, local NGO groups and local residents work together in order not only to mitigate the negative impacts caused by the presence of the USFK but also to enhance the positive impacts for local development.

<Table 1> Comparison of the Old Decoupled System and

the New Inclusive Governance System

relationship characteristics	old decoupled system	inclusive governance system
communication	very few / limited	regular / as much as possible
service exchange	very few	reciprocal / regular
interpersonal relationship	individualistic	institutionalized
the USFK' communication channel	unilateral to the central government	tripodal: central gov't, local gov't, local communities
perception of the USFK by local governments	uncontrolled extraterritoriality	local actors
perception of the USFK by local residents	hostile occupation forces	partner providing services and jobs
perception of local gov't by the USFK	ceremonial guests	collaborator
perception of locality by the USFK	occupied territory	community for coexistence
perception of local residents by the USFK	complainers / protesters	community members

Ⅳ. The Possibility of Cohabitation and Cooperation

1 The Dualistic Attitudes and Ineffectual Feeling of Local Residents on the USFK

The missing link in discourse upon the USFK can be restored through looking at how local residents and the USFK perceive each other and what they are expecting the other part to do with each other. Attitudes of local residents hosting the USFK are known to be different from those of ordinary Korean people living elsewhere. Korean people express their attitudes based on the general perceptions and emotional judgments on the USFK and U.S. foreign policies, so particular current issues and sensational accidents related to the USFK may influence their attitudes (Kim, Tae-Hyo, 2003). However, local residents are sharing the common living space with the USFK, and they have their own experiences with the USFK. Therefore their attitudes and perceptions toward the USFK stationing in their communities are based on the very realistic and concrete grounds. The survey results tell us that local residents have dualistic or ambivalent attitudes toward the USFK in some sense. They  are generally positive to the stay of the USFK in the Korean peninsular, but they become negative on the USFK stationing in their own localities(Yang, 2003).

The respondents include local residents in the city of Eijungbu and Paju(Yang, 2003).

<Table 2> the Dualistic Attitudes on the USFK station (no. %)

	the USFK station in Korea	the USFK station in our locality
strongly disapprove	53 (10.4)	110 (21.7)
slightly disapprove	83 (16.3)	136 (26.8)
neutral	52 (10.2)	95 (18.7)
slightly approve	204 (40.0)	107(21.1)
strongly approve	118 (23.1)	60 (11.8)
sum	510(100.0)	508(100)

<Table 3> Reasons for Approval of the USFK Station in our locality (no, %)

	local residents	local gov't officials	total
national and regional security	77 (71.3)	39 (69.6)	116 (70.7)
local economy growth	22 (20.4)	11 (19.6)	33 (20.1)
no alternative area for stationing	9 ( 8.3)	5 ( 8.9)	14 ( 8.5)
etc.	-	1 ( 1.8)	1 ( 0.6)
sum	108(100.0)	56(100.0)	164(100.0)

As <Table 3> shows us, the major reason for the approval of the station is 'national and regional security'. These findings imply that local residents believe their interests have been already sacrificed for the national security. On the other hand, most of respondents, more than 70% of the respondents oppose the stationing of the USFK in their localities because they and their communities have already paid excessive costs. It is believed to be unfair that more sufferings are asked to be carried again by specific local communities in the name of national security in the future.

The same survey results also show that local residents believe the USFK have produced the negative impact as well as positive impacts to their communities. They are mostly concerned that the USFK stationing has prevented their localities from developing economically and planning their land use properly. Among the various negative impacts on local communities, noises, degradation of local image, restrictions on private property use, and crimes committed by the USFK are counted as major negative impacts upon the local communities. The respondents indicate 'national and local security' as a major positive impact given by the USFK. However, respondents do not count much the economic benefits of job generation and overall local economic growth in local community induced by the USFK stationing (Yang, 2005).

<Table 4> Reasons for Disapproval of the USFK Station in our localities (no. %)

	local residents	local gov't officials	total
more sufferings than local benefits	82 (48.0)	29 (45.3)	111 (47.2)
unfairness : unilateral sacrifices for the national security	60 (35.1)	19 (29.7)	79 (33.6)
withdrawal of the USFK is needed not only from their locality but from Korea	27 (15.8)	15 (23.4)	42 (17.9)
etc	2 ( 1.2)	1 ( 1.6)	3 ( 1.3)
sum	171(100.0)	64(100.0)	235(100.0)

Despite significant impacts of the USFK upon local communities, irrespective of whether they are negative or positive, there is no adequate mechanism for local governments to lessen the negative impacts and to expand the positive effects upon the local communities. In fact, the local governments do not have any leverage to exercise jurisdictional authority over the USFK. As <Table 5> shows, the survey result of local government officials confirms that local officials feel a kind of incompetence over the fact that the USFK are largely beyond the control of the jurisdictional authority of local governments. More than 75% local governments officials answer that the USFK are completely outside of jurisdictional authority of two local governments, and 20% respondents, they think, exercise very limited jurisdictional power over the USFK.

<Table 5> Jurisdictional Authority of Local Government over the USFK

(Local Gov't Officials Responses)

	total		city of Paju		city of Uijeongbu
	responses	%	responses	%	responses	%
completely outside of jurisdictional authority of local govt	116	75.3	62	82.7	54	ㄴ68.4
very limited jurisdictional authority exercised over the USFK	31	20.1	9	12.0	22	27.8
limited jurisdictional authority exercised over the USFK	4	2.6	3	4.0	1	1.3
somewhat jurisdictional authority exercised over the USFK	1	0.6	-	-	1	1.3
no answer	2	1.3	1	1.3	1	1.3
total	154	100.0	75	100.0	79	100.0

Officials from the City of Paju feel less effectiveness than those from the City of Uijeongbu. This difference might be due to the various social and political factors of two cities. The City of Uijeongbu has been the typical USFK stationing town for a long time. The USFK bases such as Camp Red Croud and Camp La Guardia had been located at the center of the City of Uijeongbu and caused a lot of problems. Local government officials in Uijeongbu have tried to keep contacts with the USFK officers and negotiate to relocate the bases into other areas. The capacity and competence of the local government officials in terms of English proficiency and personal experiences with the USFK might be enhanced. Compared to the USFK in Uijeongbu areas, most of the USFK in Paju areas are the combat units deployed forward covering the front line of defense near to the DMZ. Because of the critical military role of the USFK in Paju areas, the USFK bases are more likely to operate independently and less likely to cooperate with local government officials. These different conditions might cause the officials in the City of Paju to feel less competent in their jurisdictional authority over the USFK.

2. Positive Attitudes of the USFK on the Local Communities

In general, differing from the somewhat negative attitudes of local residents against the USFK, a recent survey of the 211 U.S. troops of Yongsan Base and K-6 Base shows us that the USFK has more optimistic opinions on their stationing in Korea local communities and more positive attitudes on the integration and collaboration efforts with local communities as well as local residents. According to the survey results by Gyonggi Research Institute (Gyonggi Research Institute, 2006; Kim, 2006), more that 85% of the USFK respondents answer that they have satisfied with stationing in Korea so far. Comparing to their stationing in other billet locations like Japan, Germany and UK, the 40.4% of USFK respondents has a favorable attitude on their services in Korea, only 16.6% of them indicate the unfavorable working conditions in Korea. About 70% of the respondents think that the relocation of the USFK into the Pyeongtaek area would be beneficial to local communities economically. Almost the half of the respondents(47.4%) answer that the relationship between USFK and local community have improved, and only 11.4% of the respondents answer that the relationship have got worse. Most of the USFK respondents(about 85%) are very supportive to the cultural exchange programs with local communities such as social gatherings and cultural events (Kim, 2006).

The following results on the attitudes of the USFK are based upon the survey carried out by Gyonggi Research Institute in 2006 (Gyonggi Research Institute, 2006).

These survey results show us that the USFK, in general, do not have much troubles and sufferings as Korean local residents have, and have more optimistic views about the future relationship between the USFK and local communities. Most of the USFK respondents admitted that the more positive and affirmative roles of all stakeholders are needed to deal with the issues of the USFK, including the Korean central government(34.1%), the USFK(29.9%), the local government and local communities(36.0%) (GRI, 2006). <Table 6> shows that many USFK respondents want local communities to help them in understanding the Korean language and cultural way of life. They also hope to participate in cultural exchange programs in local communities. Meanwhile, they expect local residents or general public to appreciate their roles in Korea properly and to treat them more courteously. In short, the USFK respondents are more interested in the cultural activities in local communities.

<Table 6> the most needed activities from local communities

(no. %)

	responses	%
Korean language Learning	48	22.7
cultural education	47	22.3
public appreciation for service	36	17.1
programs that foster cultural exchange	30	14.2
politeness from the general public	20	9.5
availability of english services	13	6.2
education of and fair application of laws	10	4.7
to be left alone	7	33
sum	211	100.0

* source : Gyonggi Research Institute, 2006, 89

<Table 7> the priorities for the USFK to overcome conflicts in communities

(two answers, no. %)

	responses	%
respect for Korean culture and society	113	29.7
increase education and enforce regulations	52	13.7
close relationship with local government	44	11.6
alleviate inconveniences of local residents such as traffic and pollution, etc	35	9.2
observe environmental stewardship	33	8.7
immediate response to local complaints	28	7.4
participation in local disaster relief	16	4.2
other	59	15.5
sum	380	100.0

* source : Gyonggi Research Institute, 2006, 91

Meanwhile, the USFK respondents point out several primary tasks, which they have to do in order to overcome conflicts with local communities. First of all, they emphasize their proper behaviors with greater respect for Korean culture and society(29.7%). Secondly, more education of local regulations and strict military discipline are also suggested. They also indicate that quick responses to inconveniences caused by them in local communities and voluntary participation in local disaster relief activities will be helpful in managing conflicts and promoting cooperative relationship with local communities(Kim, 2006).

3. The Possibility of the Inclusive Local Governance System

These dualistic and ambivalent attitudes of local residents on the USFK have been reinforced by the negative and positive impacts of the USFK on the everyday living conditions in local communities. First of all, local residents have suffered various committed crimes and traffic violations or accidents caused by the USFK. Even though the numbers of crimes and offenses by the USFK have continued to decrease, most of crimes and offenses are more likely to be occurring at the local communities where the USFK are stationing  (Yang, 2005). Besides crimes and traffic accidents, environmental pollution such as water pollution and soil contamination is another negative impact on local communities. The Pyeongtaek lake were reported to be polluted by dirty waste water from the K-55 air bases. Local residents living near to the large scale train camps, Bullseye01 and Bullseye02 in Paju, have complained the damage to the crops as well as soil contamination caused by empty cartridges and unexploded bombs. Local residents have asked to return the facilities and areas occupied by the USFK indefinitely. According the LPP(Land Partnership Plan), the USFK is planning to return the facilities and areas which are no longer needed, but until recently, more than 59,794acre areas and facilities are granted to the USFK all over the country. These granted areas and facilities have also been an obstacle to urban and economic development in local communities.

On the other hand, in terms of local economy and employment, the USFK and the Bases have affected positive impacts on local communities. A study(Gyonggi Research Institute,  2003) shows that the total expenditure multiplier effect of the USFK K-6 and K-55 bases in the City of Pyeongtaek was estimated 127 billion Won in 2003. This economic effect includes the expenditure multiplier effect induced by expenditures of the USFK officers and men as well as the Bases' expenditures in Pyeongtaek local areas. The same study makes an estimate that the total expenditure multiplier effects will increase to 327billion Won after the relocation of the Yongsan base into Pyeongtaek areas (Gyonggi Research Institute, 2003).

The survey findings of local residents imply that the local residents do not object the USFK stationing at all the time, but they feel they have been treated unfairly and proper compensations and conflict management mechanism are needed to induce the cooperative relationship with the USFK. The optimistic and positive attitudes of the USFK on the Korean local communities enhance the possibility of the cohabitation with local communities. The survey results show us that, for the more cooperative relationship with the local communities, the cultural and symbolic approaches to individual US troops will be a useful way to involve the USFK in local community affairs and to make them understand sufferings and costs which local communities have undergone. The U.S government as well as the USFK authority needs more active initiatives to local governments and communities. As Smith argues, the USFK must give greater attention to the local impacts of their forces and develop policies that mitigate the pressure on local residents, because public support for a shared security agenda and conformation to the domestic laws and practices will be the foundation for future alliance cooperation. The USFK must also consider the changing relationship and respective roles between national and local governments and, outside of government, a multitude of voices brought by new social forces and new norms of democratic practice in Korea (Smith, 2006).

The increase of mutual understanding and respect seems to be the first step for local communities as well as the USFK to integrate each other, but a more institutional approach are needed to handle the conflicts and to establish a solid cooperative mechanism. After the tragic traffic accident killing two girls in 2002, the USFK have made efforts to promote positive relationship with local communities and local residents. Each USFK base has begun to operate various community programs such as the Base Open House events to local residents, joint programs for Korean Cultural activities, voluntary activities for local residents and sister programs with community schools and churches. These activities are organized and managed under the title of "Good Neighbor Program", which was initiated by the Commander Leon J. LaPorte (Park, 2004).

Another positive effort of the USFK to work with local communities might be the establishment of KAPC(Korean American Partnership Council). The KAPC was initiated at the regional level as well as local level, and Korean local government officials begun to have an official channel for communicating with the USFK officers and coordinating various issues. In the Pyeongtaek area, since 2005, KAPC has been working to solve various issues related to the USFK. The KAPC in Pyeongtaek consists of 8 Korean council members and 8 USFK Camp Humphreys officers including the Mayor of Pyeongtaek and the Commander of the US Army Area Ⅲ Support Activity. The KAPC have discussed the current issues such as helicopter flying route change, aircraft noise reduction plan, job placement for relocated residents, supply local agricultural products to the USFK restaurants and PX, Paengsung riverside belt-way construction project, and Korean cultural experience exchange programs. These issues have been discussed and reviewed more practically at the Working Group meeting composed of working level officials in both sides. Similar KAPC and Working Group Meeting are operating at the northern area of the Gyonggi province since 2004. The Vice Governor of the Gyonggi Province and the Commander of the 2nd Infantry Division are joining at the KAPC. These regular activities have been the very good starting point for the possible cooperation and cohabitation between local communities and the USFK. Moreover, the official communication channels operating regularly such as the KAPC and the Working Group Meetings will operate as an important cornerstone for the inclusive local governance system discussed before.

Ⅴ. Agendas for the Pyeongtaek Area

For a start, the new inclusive governance system needs to be established in Pyeongtaek area. According to the LPP(Land Partnership Plan) signed by the ROK and the U.S. Governments, new bases in Pyeongtaek area will house the headquarters of the USFK in Yongsan and the 2nd Infantry Division now deployed north of Seoul. Before the relocation, a lot of conflicts have already occurred which are not easily dealt with by the Korean central government. Local residents and local NGO groups have protested against riot police and military troops opposing geographical investigation of the area. Without including local voices and sufferings into the whole relocation and construction process, the vicious circle of ignorance, exclusion and conflicts will be repeated in the Pyeongtaek area too. In this regard, the inclusive and extended local governance system should be reviewed very carefully in Pyeongtaek area as early as possible, and the City Government of Pyeongtaek need to execute a proper governing role in local communities from the beginning.

In order to institutionalize the inclusive local governance system in Pyeongtaek areas, the administrative linkage as a standing communication channel and cooperative agency between the local governments and the USFK bases is to be established very solidly, For this, the KAPC and the Working Group Meeting need to be held more regularly as well as more frequently. The Pyeongtaek City government can invest more human and financial resources in order to activate the KAPC and the Working Group meeting. The organization charging these responsibilities in the Pyeongtaek City government needed to be empowered to handle various related issues at the community level with the strong support of the Mayor as well as the City Council. Currently, twenty-two people are working for various related USFK affairs in Pyeongtaek areas at the temporal field agency, the Korea-America Cooperation Agency. The agency had better work as a standing organization to build more solid relationship with the USFK. More importantly, the capacity of the staffs in the agency must be enhanced in terms of negotiations skills and English proficiency. If needed, the City government can employ experts who are specialized in the US civil-military relationships and negotiations. The USFK also needs to empower the USFK Community Relations Office as a proper counter part agency for Pyeongtaek local governments and communities.

Secondly, the participation of local government officials need to be guaranteed in the negotiation and decision making process about the USFK issues in order to represent the opinions of local communities. If the SOFA provisions are revised to specify the rights and responsibilities of local governments and allow them to take part in the USFK affairs involved in local communities, the inclusive governance system can be established institutionally. Before the SOFA amendment, local government officials need to become entitled to investigate the causes of water and soil contamination in granted land and to assess the reimbursement of costs and damages incurred to any private persons as well as facilities and areas.

Thirdly, various types of joint programs will give each other an opportunity to confirm and to increase the interdependency and trust. For example, through joint exercising programs for emergency medical services, evacuation services and fire fighting services, local communities and the USFK can find the way in which they share their resources and information more cooperatively. The KAPC will help to operate these joint programs.

Finally, the City Government of Pyeongtaek and the USFK have to pay more attention to the cultural exchange programs. As survey results show, the USFK have much interests in the cultural activities and the Korean language education. The Pyeongtaek City government can financially support the Korean language and culture education programs for the USFK in cooperation with the local colleges. Various cultural exchange programs can be designed such as voluntary English tutoring services for the local students, Korean traditions learning programs, Camp Open House programs. Home Stay and Host Family programs, Head Start Education programs for the newly coming USFK into the Camps. The USFK can  expand and revitalize the Good Neighbor Program, which is supporting the USFK to have cooperative relations with local communities. A regular town meeting with local governments or local residents held by the USFK will work for communicating ordinary information such as their military excercise schedules and for listening local complaints(Kim, 2006). All these activities, processes and structures will help to build up more inclusive and extended governance system gradually in Pyeongtaek area.

Ⅵ. Concluding Remarks

The military alliance between the ROK and U.S. and the station of the U.S. troops is not just a matter of regional balance and security but also that of the Korean local communities. Existing discussions on the USFK have generally focused upon their strategic role in terms of national and regional security and the legal framework of the SOFA. However, the USFK have had great impacts on the local communities which have been forced to host the bases since the Korean War, no matter whether these impacts are beneficial or detrimental to the local communities. The stationing of the USFK is to bring about certain conflicts with hosting communities. Even though we accept the necessity of certain level of conflicts, the conflicts between the USFK and the hosting local communities should not be so serious as to aggravate the alliance itself. In these sense, the conflicts needs to be managed and prevented at the local communities, and a more cooperative system needs to be operated between local communities and the USFK. As Dujarric urges, the expansion of alliance management should be approached beyond the military treaty, because the ROK-U.S. alliance's strength rely upon a multitude of personal connections and contacts among various actors including the U.S. and the ROK officials as well as their family members in the longer terms (Dujarrice 2003).

This paper analyzed the attitudes of local residents and the USFK on the possibility of building new type of cooperative relationship. The survey result shows that local residents have dualistic views of the USFK stationing in Korea and their communities. Despite the negative impacts and conflicts with the USFK in their local communities, local governments and local communities are not able to handle the related issues adequately. It leads to the trapping of local residents, local NGOs and local government in a cycle of ambivalence, incompetence and protest. On the other hand, the USFK respondents have more positive and optimistic views on the possibility of cooperation and coexistence in local communities. They have become to be more active in the community affairs. The Good Neighbor Programs and the KAPC are the signs of the their new approach to the local governments and communities.

As an alternative way of cooperation and cohabitation, a new inclusive local governance system is suggested to integrate the USFK into the local community as a responsible local actor. The new local governance system is a kind of guarantee of the reciprocal relationship among local communities, local governments and the USFK. Unlike the current decoupled system, new local governance system encourages more active and mutually beneficial interaction among the USFK, local residents and local governments. This promotes the exchange of resources and information among local actors. It will offer them a kind of knowledge, friendship and trust which allows them to sustain and make the alliance between two countries much stronger. By 2013, most of the USFK bases including the Headquarter of the USFK will be clustering at the Pyeongtaek areas. On the on hand, the new expanded USFK bases are supposed to bring about new opportunities of economic development and job creation, on the other hand the aggregation of the USFK bases and training camps in the Pyeongtaek areas may lead to concentration of negative impacts into the specific areas. That is a good reason why the more inclusive local governance system needs to be built up in Pyeongtaek area as early as possible.

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양기용(梁基鏞): 미국 델라웨어대에서 도시정책학 박사학위를 취득하였으며(논문제목: 기업구조변화를 통한 지역경제활성화전략) 현재 부경대학교 부교수로 재직하고 있다. 주요 관심분야는 도시정책, 인사행정, 사회정책 등이며, 최근 주요논문으로는 “지방정부의 재정능력과 복지지출”(2006), “고령사회대응정책의 투자재원 확보를 위한 조건”(2006) 등이 있다.

<E-mail: yang@pknu.ac.kr/논문접수일: 2007. 10. 15/심사게시일: 2007. 10. 23/심사완료일: 2007. 11. 18>