On December 5, Gyeonggi Province hosted a policy council and joint workshop at Island Castle in Uijeongbu City regarding the development of returned U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) grant zones and more.

About 50 people, including provincial and local officials, outside experts, Gyeonggi Research Institute personnel, Gyeonggi Housing & Urban Innovation Corporation officials, and academics attended the policy meeting held that day to discuss the proposed improvement of laws and systems pertaining to the returned grant zones and their development direction.

The council discussed clarifying the point in time for calculating the land purchase cost of returned grant zones based on the date of the decision to return, allowing the free use of returned land for public purposes, and establishing a basis for mitigating profitability declines due to reduced demand for educational, cultural and tourism facilities in areas near returned land due to low population concentrations, thereby facilitating the smooth attraction of private sector projects to long-undeveloped returned grant zones.

Following the council session, Professor Lee Hoon of Shinhan University gave a special lecture titled “Unification of Military Facilities Regulations for Northern Gyeonggi Province,” and Nam Ji-hyun, head of the Balanced Development Center of the Gyeonggi Research Institute, gave a lecture titled “Status and Tasks of U.S. Military Grant Zones in Korea.” This was followed by a site visit to the area around a camp where the Uijeongbu Returned Grant Zone Development Project was completed and to a planned development site.

Gyeonggi Province officials said they will continue to make recommendations to central government agencies on issues discussed during the policy council session and will also work with cities and counties to actively promote the development of the returned grant zones.