South Korea and the United States will sign on Tuesday a bilateral agreement on the relocation of the U.S. military headquarters out of central Seoul by the end of 2008.

Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung and Commander of the U.S. Forces Korea General Leon LaPorte will sign two separate accords - the Umbrella Agreement (UA) and Implementation Agreement (IA) - on relocating the Yongsan Garrison to the Pyeongtaek area south of Seoul.

Under the agreement, the U.S. will hand over to South Korea around four square kilometers of land used by 13 U.S. bases in Korea, including the Yongsan Garrison in Seoul.

In return, Seoul will provide some 1.7 square kilometers of land in Pyongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of the capital city.

The bilateral accord also includes revisions to the Land Partnership Plan, in line with troop reductions in the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division.

Under the Land Partnership Plan, signed in March 2002, the U.S. Forces in Korea will reduce the number of its bases from 41 to 23 and return to South Korea roughly 50 percent of the land it currently uses, equivalent to some 135 million square meters, by 2011.

Seoul and Washington finalized details on the relocation of the Yongsan Garrison earlier in mid-August.

The agreement will officially go into effect once it is ratified by the National Assembly.