Yesterday United States Forces Korea Commander B.B. Bell testified to Congress that a deal had been reached with the Korean government to equally fund the USFK transformation costs.  I suspected something was up with the ROK government agreeing to the deal and as it turns out the Korean government denies agreeing to any cost sharing deal:

South Korea rebutted Monday a claim by the commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) that Seoul would pay much more than it agreed to for the relocation of U.S. troops here, nearly calling the U.S. commander a wishful thinker.

The reaction from South Korea came one day after Sunday’s reports that Gen. Burwell B. Bell recently told a Congressional hearing that Seoul has agreed to shoulder half of the costs to relocate U.S. troops from Seoul’s Yongsan Garrison and frontline bases to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

In the U.S. House Appropriations Committee hearing, Bell said the relocation project would cost Seoul about US$10 billion in total and that the country has already spent some $2 billion.

The USFK commander said Monday that his remarks at the U.S. committee hearing had been either misstated or misquoted and that his original statement should have read "South Korea has already spent $2 billion in an effort that will cost the two nations a total of approximately $10 billion."

Bell, however, did not back down from his earlier claim that Seoul has agreed to and would pick up part of the costs to relocate the frontline 2nd U.S. Infantry Division, though Seoul earlier said such claims are "not true."

 Seoul has long said it will pick up the entire cost of relocating U.S. troops from Seoul, about $4.4 billion, as the move comes at its request, but insists the cost of relocating the 2nd Infantry Division must be shouldered by Washington as it comes under its own plan.  [Yonhap]

Is it just me or has the Korean media made it a habit of misquoting General Bell in Korean press releases?  General Bell is now saying that if the Korean government does not equally fund the relocation of 2ID then he will use yearly funding by the Korean government for the upkeep of USFK forces to finance the move instead:

Without commenting on whether Seoul has agreed to provide financial assistance strictly for the relocation of the frontline U.S. troops, the USFK commander said the U.S. is able to use money provided by Seoul to share the burden of maintaining U.S. forces here toward any end it sees fit, including the relocation of the 2nd Infantry Division.

"If the Republic of Korea disagrees with this, it will be necessary for the Korean government to raise the issue with the United States," Bell said in a statement released Monday by the USFK Public Affairs Office.

Korea gives a yearly amount of money to fund the upkeep of USFK.  In 2007 the Korean government provided $780 million for the upkeep of USFK.  Most of this money is used to pay Korean base employees and build and maintain new facilities on USFK installation.  General Bell testified that the USFK transformation will cost a total of $10 billion dollars and the Korean government has agreed to pay $4.4 billion dollars to relocate Yongsan, but does not want to pay any part of the $5.6 billion to relocate the 2nd Infantry  Division.  General Bell wants the Korean government to pay half of the cost for the move which would come out to $2.8 billion dollars. 

By crunching the numbers, General Bell could fund the relocation using the USFK upkeep funds over the next few years as says he will do if necessary.  However, he would have to use over half of the $780 million given to USFK every year in order to meet the $2.8 billion needed to fund the relocation by 2013.  Using this much funding would probably mean a number of Korean workers would be laid off as well as contracts to build and maintain facilities on USFK camps would be cancelled to pay for the relocation of 2ID.  Many Koreans jobs would be lost and the quality of life for USFK servicemembers would be effected.  Let’s hope it doesn’t come this, but the way things are going it probably will.

It is pretty clear despite the rhetoric of a future oriented alliance that the new Korean government is going to remain committed to doing everything possible to not fund and delay the 2nd Infantry Division relocation to Camp Humphreys.  Maybe it is about time General Bell starts exploring options of funding a 2nd Infantry Division relocation back to the United States instead?  Either that or he could just shave his head, wear a red Hanchongnyun head band, and protest outside the Korean Ministry of Defense instead.