Korean civic groups criticized U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) over the weekend for its plan to build apartment buildings on its main military compound in Yongsan, Seoul. Seoul city officials also appear unhappy with the plan, the latest source of controversy involving American soldiers since it was reported Friday. The plan calls for the U.S. military to replace its current housing complex in Yongsan with new apartment buildings. Civic activists claimed the plan proves that USFK does not intend to move out of Yonsan, calling it part of a plot for the United States to station its troops in the country permanently. The head of a national committee for retrieval of the areas used as U.S. military bases, Kim Yong-hwan, said...the plan can't be accepted because it goes against the U.S. promise to return the base to South Korea by 1996. Kim argued that the Status of Forces Agreement or SOFA which governs the legal status of American troops, should be amended to ensure closer Korean scrutiny of any such plans.