S. Korea lifts swathes of military facility protection zones

▲ The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in central Seoul (Yonhap)

military zones-reduction

S. Korea lifts swathes of military facility protection zones

SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Yonhap) -- The defense ministry lifted tens of millions of square meters of military facility protection zones across the country Friday amid efforts to provide them for public use.

A total of 53.75 million square meters of the protection zones were lifted -- 18.5 times the size of the financial district of Yeouido in western Seoul, according to the ministry.

The zones include a 27,303-square-meter site under the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in central Seoul, which had previously been the site of a military unit. It will now be available for development.

A flight safety zone of 15.8 million square meters around an airfield in Sejong, 113 kilometers south of Seoul, was also lifted in line with its change into a helicopter base in April.

The ministry said it newly designated a flight safety zone of 3.2 million square meters around the base due to the change.

Under the Military Installation and Military Facilities Protection Act, there are four categories of areas subject to security restrictions, including those close to important military facilities and those zoned off for Air Force operations.

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