Tag: Camp Humphreys

Congratulations to the Camp Humphreys commissary for being named the best overseas commissary by DECA:

The grocery store on the largest U.S. military installation overseas has been named the best overseas large commissary of the year by the Defense Commissary Agency. The Camp Humphreys commissary learned of the title March 1, according to an email Wednesday from DeCA spokeswoman Tressa Smith.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This reminds me about the complaints about the heat during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Why schedule a major event like this during the hottest and most humid part of the year? It is no secret that August is one of the worst months to visit Korea:

Members of the United States contingent at the World Scout Jamboree under way in Saemangeum, North Jeolla Province, wait in line to board a bus headed to the American military base in Pyeongtaek on Aug. 6, 2023. (Yonhap)

The United States contingent at the World Scout Jamboree under way in South Korea on Sunday departed for an American military base in Pyeongtaek, cutting short their stay amid an extreme heat wave.

Following criticism over insufficient preparations against record-high temperatures, the U.S. Scouts, comprising some 1,500 members, announced a plan to move its members from the site in the southwestern coastal area of Saemangeum to Camp Humphreys, an American military garrison 60 kilometers south of Seoul, and stay there until Friday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It appears the pro-US-ROK alliance activists greatly outnumbered the anti-US protesters last week outside of Camp Humphreys:

Thousands of demonstrators converged outside Camp Humphreys on the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, prompting a response by hundreds of police officers and snarling traffic on the U.S. Army installation.

Activists — some opposed to the U.S. presence on the Korean Peninsula, some in full-throated support — arrived in dozens of buses throughout Thursday, some coming from as far as Busan, about 150 miles south of the U.S. base in Pyeongtaek.

The atmosphere outside the gates resembled a music festival: Whistles, chants and techno music blared from speakers mounted on parked cars as delivery trucks hauled digital billboards scrolling “Support U.S. alliance” slowly past the crowd.

Around 8,000 people gathered near at least two of the base’s six gates, the largest assembly in the area since South Korea ended COVID-19 social distancing restrictions in April 2022, according to an email Friday from Erick Crudup, operations officer for the base Directorate of Emergency Services.

Activists on both sides of the road leading to Yoon Gate — the main entrance to Humphreys — chanted “USA” while waving American and South Korean flags. U.S. service members driving past the scene honked their horns and waved in support.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but according to the article there was only about 100 anti-US protesters present. This is in stark contrast to the massive hate filled anti-US protests that were launched when Camp Humphreys was being expanded years ago.

Since this incident apparently happened on Camp Humphreys back in 2018 it makes me wonder if this was a KATUSA soldier that was slapped?:

South Korean soldiers walk on the grounds of Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Friday, July 7, 2023. (Christopher Green/Stars and Stripes)

 A former South Korean army officer cleared of assault charges after slapping a subordinate on a U.S. military base in 2018 must stand trial again after the country’s highest court reversed an appellate court’s ruling.

The officer — identified as a colonel in South Korean media reports — was convicted in a military court of assault for lightly slapping a soldier five to eight times for failing to salute, according to a June 15 decision by the Supreme Court of Korea. The conviction carried a maximum two-year prison term. 

The decision sends the case to the Seoul High Court for retrial. 

Both soldiers served in the same unit that supported the U.S. armed forces, according to the supreme court decision. The incident occurred at an unspecified base in Pyeongtaek, home of the U.S. Army’s Camp Humphreys and the Air Force’s Osan Air Base.

Names, ranks and other information about the soldiers were redacted in the court filing. Except in extreme cases of “cruel” crimes, South Korean law protects the identity of the accused.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but back in the day physical punishment for infractions like this was common which is probably why this Colonel thought it was okay to slap the soldier. I once did combined training with a ROK Army unit and at morning formation a ROK soldier ran to formation a few seconds late and the platoon sergeant slapped him, pushed him to the ground, and kicked him. No one ever showed up late to formation the rest of the exercise.

The CFC has finally completed its move from Yongsan Garrison:

The combined command that defends South Korea officially opened the doors on a new headquarters Tuesday, nearly three years after beginning its relocation from Seoul.

The Republic of Korea-United States Combined Forces Command now resides at Camp Humphreys, Pyeongtaek, after 44 years at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul. Republic of Korea is the official name for South Korea.

Humphreys, the largest U.S. military base overseas, now serves as the headquarters for U.S. Forces Korea, U.N. Command and the Combined Forces Command. Roughly 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, the majority of them at Humphreys.

USFK commander Gen. Paul LaCamera and Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup during a ceremony at the new headquarters welcomed soldiers from both countries and thanked them for their help in maintaining the South Korea-U.S. alliance.

Since its creation in 1978, the Combined Forces Command coordinates the defense of South Korea with troops from Seoul and Washington. The command has operational control of over 700,000 active-duty U.S. and South Korean troops.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This is pretty much the last thing that needed to move off of Yongsan Garrison:

The headquarters of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) will relocate to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, this month, ending a four-decade presence in Seoul’s Yongsan District.    
   
The South Korean Defense Ministry said Tuesday that the relocation of the CFC’s headquarters is expected to wrap up by the end of the month.    
   
“Through the relocation, the CFC plans to establish an even stronger combined defense system based on a strengthened alliance spirit and operational efficiency in Pyeongtaek, the new cradle of the alliance,” the ministry said in a statement. (……)

Approximately 700 South Korean and U.S. personnel currently serving at the CFC’s Yongsan headquarters will begin moving to Camp Humphreys starting early this month, while the CFC plans to hold a ceremony in November marking the end of the command’s era in Yongsan.   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.