Kwangju Air Base
Kwang Ju, which is 150 miles south of Seoul, was an active-duty Air Force base until the ownership of it was turned over to the ROK in 1991. Korea now uses the airfield as a base and airport in Kwang Ju City, the 5th largest city in the South Korea. The Air Force maintains nearly 250 acres of the base.

The 51st Fighter Wing, headquartered at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, maintains and administers US operations at Osan and five collocated operating bases -- Taegu, Suwon, Kwang Ju, Kimhae and Cheong Ju ? for reception and beddown of follow-on forces. The Wing's 51st Logistics Support Squadron plans, programs and initiates actions for the rapid reception and beddown of US forces deploying to the Republic of Korea during contingencies or wartime by maintaining five collocated operating bases and seven munitions storage sites.

In 1992 the US government changed the status of three US air bases in Korea. Kwang Ju Air Base, Suwon Air Base and Taegu Air Base -- previously announced as ending operations -- would instead operate at reduced levels. 15 USAF personnel are assigned to this small site. Personnel reside in former Officer quarters which are basically a small apartment. JTR is 20% for this site.

The United States Air Force has a continuing requirement to maintain adequate supplies of ammunition and explosives within the ROK to support wartime and contingency operational plans. Since capabilities are limited on USAF-controlled installations, the US obtained additional storage capabilities through a concept known as MAGNUM (Munitions Storage Activities Gained by Negotiations of USAF/ROKAF Memorandum). MAGNUMs are a concept unique to Korea, where USAF-titled munitions are stored at facilities which are owned, operated, and protected by the ROKAF. Accordingly, the USAF has very little control over the storage of munitions within these areas and no authority to enforce the maintenance of Q-D clear zones. As a result of encroachment by the Korean civilians into the explosive clear zones, there are large numbers of exposures around the MAGNUMs. There is a permanent exemption from US DOD Q-D standards for off-installation and ROK exposures created by storage of USAF munitions at MAGNUM locations. This exemption applies for all off-installation and ROK violations created by the originally sited net explosives weight (NEW) of storage structures located at the Osan, Kunsan, Suwon, Kwang Ju, Sachon, Taegu, and Cheong Ju MAGNUMs.

Deployment of new missiles has met angry protests from activists in Gwangju, formerly spelled Kwangju, and known for anti-US sentiment.