From 25 to 31 July, SPARK members toured US military sites throughout South Korea and carried out protest actions.
The purpose of this tour was to learn directly how the US bases are being reinforced as a consequence of granting “strategic flexibility” to the United States Forces in Korea (USFK).

On the first day, 25 July, they went to the Paju-Mugeonri combined practice range, situated north of Seoul, which is mainly used as a training area for army armored units.
People are living here, right next to the practice range. Since the original 5,500,000 pyeong (= ca. 167,000 square meters) area will expanded to 11 million pyeong (= ca. 334,000 sq. m.), these people will be evicted, similar to the Pyeongtaek residents, who are also being evicted from their homes because of base expansion.
In the area where the base is supposed to be expanded, there is a nature conservation area, which is the habitat of white herons, frogs, and other animals.
Since May this year, the Mugeonri residents, having observed the Pyeongtaek struggle carefully, have been taking countermeasures and organizing resistance.

On the second day, 26 July, they went to the east side of the Korean peninsula, to the Yeongwol City’s Pilseung shooting range in Kangwon Province, which is a practice area for fighter planes and bombers.
Pilseung, located on the slopes of Mt. Taepaek, one of Korea’s most beautiful mountains, is a South Korean military shooting range, but the US military share the use of it. US military planes are responsible for 90% of the firing practice that is done at night. 
The residents say that the empty cartridges and gunpowder that come from the shooting range contaminate the water supply that the residents use for drinking water.
The fighter planes also cause extreme noise pollution.

On the third day, 27 July, they went to Taegu and Waegwan, in the southeast part of the Korean peninsula. 
Most of the bases in this area are supply bases, which are being consolidated as part of the strategic flexibility plan. Taegu, along with Pyeongtaek, will be one of the two major hubs of USFK military activity.
This is the site for the headquarters which manages the supplies and weapons that are provided to all the US military personnel on the Korean peninsula. Weapons and supplies are pre-positioned here, which would be used if war breaks out.


On the 4th day, 28 July, they went to Busan on the southeast tip of the Korea peninsula. 
On 18 July a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier docked at the Korean naval base at Busan, which can be seen as a threatening gesture in response to the problem of North Korea’s missiles.
Busan is the most important Korean port for the US navy forces stationed in Japan.
It is also quite possible that the ports used by the US military will also be enlarged.

On 28 July they also went to Kwangyang, on the southern end of the Korean peninsula, where the construction of a large-scale US military supply base was planned.
The united strength of the workers and the area’s residents forced the cancellation of this project. It was a small, but important, victory.

On the 5th day, 29 July, they arrived at the US air base on the west coast of the Korean peninsula, facing China.
The USFK have accumulated a great deal of combat strength here: 60 F-16 fighter planes, Stealth fighter-bombers which are stationed here long-term, and 48 training-attack helicopters, and a Patriot missile unit.
Recently the South Korean government decided to reclaim the Saemankeum tideland, one of the most famous tideland areas in the world, directly in front of the Kunsan base. However, there are reports that they will offer part of the Saemankeum reclamation area to the USFK base.

On the 6th day, 30 July, they arrived at the Maehyangri firing range, now closed, which was formerly used as a bombing practice range for US military aircraft flying in from Guam and Okinawa. 
Due to the residents’ persistent opposition, which began in the 1980s, the whole nation learned about this situation by 2001, and in 2005 the range was finally closed down, and returned to South Korea in 2006.
It’s like a symbol of the anti-base movement in Korea, but the shells and cartridges haven’t yet been cleaned up from Maehyangri and the tideland is polluted.
The Maehyangri residents say that Maehyangri’s final success is a victory for Pyeongtaek.

On the 7th day, 31 July, they went to the Osan base at Pyeongtaek, where Camp Humphreys, along with Osan air base, is the central hub base for the USFK’s realignment.
The USFK’s 8th army headquarters, the USFK headquarters, the ROK-US alliance headquarters, the UN headquarters, and the USFK’s central combat units are moving to Camp Humphreys / Pyeongtaek.
The Osan air base’s intelligence-gathering capacity defies the imagination. There are 24 F-16 fighters, 12 A-10 anti-tank planes, 3 U-2S reconnaissance planes, C-12J refueling planes, and Patriot missiles stationed there.

The 20-plus people who participated in this tour saw places where the residents’ living conditions have been ruined because of the US bases, and learned that the newest offensive weapons and ammunition are stored at the US bases.
If the bases are enlarged, the Koreans’ lives will become increasingly miserable and the natural environment will be more and more contaminated.

Oppose the strengthening and enlargement of the bases!
Clean up the environmental pollution!
USFK get out of Korea!