SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- In its first move to consolidate its bases in South Korea, the US military closed an installation in Seoul Tuesday and returned its granted land to South Korean authorities.

    The return of the Arirang Taxi Compound in Seoul, a taxi service annex for US personnel and their family members, is the first consolidation of American installations under a 2002 land partnership plan (LPP), Yoon Jong-shik, a spokesman for the ministry's task force on the relocation of the US command, was quoted by South Korean Yonhap News Agency as saying.

    Under the land swap accord, the US military is to close 28 of its 41 major military camps scattered in South Korea and return more than half of granted land of some 136 million square meters to the South Korean government by 2011.

    In return, South Korea is to provide 5 million square meters of land for the relocation of US troops and facilities.

    "The Defense Ministry got back 10,867 square meters of land in Itaewon-dong, central Seoul, which has been provided to US forces in Korea and used as Arirang Taxi Compound since 1962," Yoon said

    Yoon then added the Seoul city government will purchase the taxi annex property to use it for public service and local development projects.

    The US military also plans to return a facility being used by an ammunition unit in Osan, just south of Seoul, early next year, as a second LPP-related consolidation, he said.

    About 37,000 American troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. The high-profile US military presence, especially in Seoul, has been a constant source of anti-American sentiments among South Koreans.

    The LPP is aimed at efficiently using land in South Korea, improving the stationing conditions for American troops and bolstering the South Korea-US combined deterrence against foreign attack, Yoon said.

    In a separate program, the US military is pushing to relocate all of its troops in Seoul and near the border with Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the south of the South Korean capital by 2006. Enditem