THE United States on Wednesday returned to South Korea four of its military bases on the Korean Peninsula, agreeing to launch consultation for the return of a garrison in central Seoul, South Korea’s foreign ministry said.

The two sides held the 200th joint committee meeting of the Status of Forces Agreement, which stipulates a legal status of about 28,500 U.S. troops stationed here, at Camp Humphreys, a U.S. military complex in Pyeongtaek, some 70 km south of capital Seoul.

After the meeting, the United States agreed to immediately return four of its military bases on the Korean Peninsula, which were already closed between 2009 and 2011, to South Korea.

The four bases were Camps Eagle and Long in Wonju, some 130 km east of Seoul, Camp Market in Bupyeong, just west of Seoul, and the Shea Range at Camp Hovey in Dongducheon, just north of Seoul.

It was part of the broader relocation scheme of the U.S. Forces Korea to consolidate U.S. military bases into two garrisons in Pyeongtaek and Daegu, about 300 km southeast of Seoul.

(Xinhua)