US military in Korea cites 'important' military interests in Gwangju airport amid relocation plan

The U.S. military stationed in Korea on Friday said it has "important" military interests in the military airport in the southwestern city of Gwangju that is set to be relocated to make room for a planned semiconductor production cluster under Seoul's recently unveiled mega investment projects.

The potential objection comes after the Gwangju military airport was handpicked as the site for the chip manufacturing cluster under the government's "three megaprojects." "Seventh Air Force does have important military interests at Gwangju Air Base, and we will continue our close coordination with the ROKAF to ensure all requirements are met and our strong combined readiness posture is maintained," Maj.

Laura Hayden, spokesperson of the Seventh Air Force said, when asked about the United States' position on the relocation plan, referring to the Korean Air Force by its official name, the Republic of Korea Air Force.

Under the chip cluster project, Korea's leading chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix plan to invest a combined 800 trillion won ($522 billion) in the southwestern Honam area, i ...