Then:
 Uijongbu in 1973 courtesy of Mike Ward. Camp Kyle can be seen towards the lower right of the photograph. The amount of rice paddies inside the city is amazing compared to Uijongbu today. Also the stream running through the city is now completely canaled with concrete or rock.
Now:
Uijongbu as seen today. In this picture you can see Camp Kyle in the foreground with Camp Essayons in the lower right. Dobongsan Mountain is in the distance. Notice no more rice paddies in Uijongbu and the stream is not even visible due to all the buildings. The changes in this city are really amazing.
One of the very few Congressmen that currently understands what is going on in Korea, Congressman Henry Hyde is bringing the big time smackdown to Seoul and Joshua at the Korea Liberator has the scoop on what Congressman Hyde is going to tell President Roh. Here is what he is going to tell President Roh about a topic I have been covering extensively:
* You want operational control of all forces during wartime. How is that going to
work? Will there be a U.S. general and a Korean general commanding the entire force jointly or two forces separately? Either way, aren¿t those both recipes for chaos, given that the two generals might not necessarily share the same immediate goals? [Yonhap reports that Hyde has said (Yonhap¿s words), ¿South Korea is now ready to reclaim its wartime operational control from Washington.¿]
Here is the parting shot he is taking at Roh:
* We¿re going to watch ¿Yoduk Story¿ when it comes to Washington in September. Have you seen it?
Check out the TKL link and read the rest of what Congressman Hyde is going to tell President Roh because he is taking many more good shots at Roh and I don’t want to take all of Joshua’s thunder from his scoop. God, I hope there is video of this because this is going to be one brilliant conversation.
On one good note for Roh, Congressmen Hyde said he would help out with the visa waiver issue.
John has posted an insightful letter he received from the former 8th Army Chief of Staff who just completed a 14 month tour in Iraq. It is a great non-sugar coated look at the situation in Iraq. Great read.
If you haven’t seen them yet Robert has some great photos posted of his trip to Chunju Lake in the central Korean province of Chungcheongbuk-do. This lake is one of my favorite places in Korea because by Korea standards it is not swamped with tourists, has beautiful scenery, good hiking opportunities, and some great nearby cultural attractions. In my GI Korea Photo Album page one of the albums I have posted is a few of my pictures from Chunju Lake, of particular interest is that I have pictures posted from both summer and autumn. I still need to work on creating more albums on some of the nearby attractions such as Woraksan National Park and Mireauksaji, however feel free to check them out and comment if you like.
Usually speeches from the brass during graduations or change of command ceremonies are not something anyone remembers from the ceremony, however this speech is definitely one that I’m sure the young soldiers in that formation are going to remember for a long time. This is actually one of the best speeches I’ve heard from anyone during the entire War on Terror. I wish our political leaders had the same kind of moral courage and convictions as this lieutenant colonel.
Hat Tip: Korea Liberator, Big Hominid
Another US Army camp in South Korea is ready to close it’s gates for the last time:
The U.S. military plans a retreat ceremony later this week at Camp Hialeah to mark the close of the post, which has been part of the American military presence on the peninsula for more than five decades. The ceremony is set for 4 p.m. Thursday.
Located in Busan¿s Nam-gu district, the 133-acre installation served as the main receiving point for supplies, equipment and other goods slated for delivery to U.S. military installations in South Korea.
It was also at the core of the U.S. militarys operations in Busan and provided administrative, medical and other services for U.S. personnel at the Pusan Storage Facility, Pier 8, the Defense Reutilization and Management Office, and Gimhae Air Base, a South Korean air force installation.
The post¿s closing comes as part of an agreement between the U.S. and South Korea called the Amended Land Partnership Plan.
Camp Hialeah is one of the oldest US camps on the Korean peninsula and has in fact been operating since 1950 with the break out of the Korean War. Camp Hialeah served as the main logistical point during the war to bring supplies into Korea and pushed to the front line troops on the Pusan Perimeter. Since the Korean War it has remained the first logistical point for supplies coming into Korea for USFK units.
What will be interesting to see is if and when USFK will formerly hand over the facility to the Korean government due to the fraudulent environmental issue between the Korean government and USFK.
This is pretty good advice:
U.S. Forces Korea personnel should avoid protests during a major training exercise to begin later this month, according to a military news release.
¿Officials expect both registered and unregistered gatherings¿ during the Aug. 21-Sept. 1 command post exercise dubbed Ulchi Focus Lens, the release stated.
No gatherings were registered formally as of late last week, according to the release.
Military personnel were urged to follow force-protection guidance that directs them to avoid ¿large civil gatherings and interaction with protestors.¿ Civilian employees, contractors and family members were urged to follow the same precautions, according to the release.
There is no reason for anyone to be any where near these protests. Those not familiar with protests in Korea, which will be primarily people who come from the states to participate in the UFL exercise, are the ones that USFK really needs to get a hold of and educate about these protesters, in order to avoid any incidents from happening.
Here is a rundown of scheduled protests:
- Aug. 8: Civil gathering at Camp Walker; 2 p.m. civil gathering in front of Kunsan Air Base.
- Aug. 10: Civil gathering at 3 p.m. to oppose the Foreign Trade Agreement; location unknown, but it could be Suwon Air Base.
- Aug. 11: 1 p.m. anti-U.S. and anti-war march and proclamation for unification of the Koreas; location unknown; 7 p.m. anti-U.S. cultural festival, possibly in Gwanghhamun.
- Aug. 12: 10 a.m. anti-U.S. civil gathering in front of Pyeongtaek Train Station with 2,000 attendees expected; 7 p.m. march from the station toward Daecuh-ri for a candlelight cultural festival.
- Aug. 13: 2 p.m. civil gathering in front of Camp Red Cloud; 6 p.m. unification festival at Yonsei University, 4,000 attendees expected.
- Aug. 14: 2 p.m. civil gathering in front of Yongsan Garrison or U.S. Embassy, 4,000 attendees expected.
- Aug. 15: 10 a.m. anti-Japan civil gathering in front of the Japanese Embassy, 2,000 attendees expected; 3 p.m. unification celebration march from Daehakro to Kyobo Park, 30,000 attendees expected.
This is weird:
A South Korean soldier has been found dead while on daytime duty at a unit in Paju, north of Seoul, the Army said Friday.
On Thursday, Pfc. Jeon Sang-hu, 20, was discovered bleeding from the chest from a gunshot wound at a guard post, according to his senior partner. Corporal Kim Hyeon-jun, who found the body, immediately reported it to the unit headquarters, an Army official said.
Hopefully they find out what happened.
Does this sound familiar to anyone stationed in 2ID?:
Soldiers¿ duties are being affected because of obstetrics and gynecology appointments at Yongsan Garrison¿s 121st General Hospital, a sergeant told camp officials.
¿I find myself adjusting my schedule just so (female soldiers) can go down to Yongsan,¿ Choi said.
That trip can take about two hours each way, depending on traffic. Most soldiers also must factor in bus schedules, waiting at the clinic and the appointment itself, he said.
Choi said he¿s had to shift other soldiers¿ schedules to make up for the lost personnel.
Arranging for an appointment down at 121 is basically giving the soldier the day off. The clever soldiers try to schedule the appointments on Fridays or Mondays in order to give themselves a three day weekend and a early start on their weekend down in Seoul.
Keep in mind it isn’t just female soldiers going to gynecology appointments. There are just as many males who may or may not have legitimate back, knee, shoulder, etc. injuries that are bothering them and appointments are scheduled for them down in Yongsan to see a specialist there. It got so bad in my unit that our Battalion Sergeant Major took a trip down to Yongsan on a Friday to see what was going on and of course found soldiers in the PX. Of course they said they were waiting for the bus, which the last bus had left 10 minutes ago, so they of course said they lost track of time. So draconian measures were implemented to stop the abuse of people milking appointments to Yongsan to get off of work. So what happened was that the companies could not be released for end of the day formation until everyone on appointment attended the final formation. You wouldn’t believe how quickly people got back to the unit and the amount of appointments decreased when these people realized the rest of the company was waiting on them to return before they could get off of work.
It would be an interesting study to see how many work hours the Army loses with people attending appointments down in Yongsan. At least it is finally being addressed, but then again the camp consolidation at Camp Humphreys would solve this problem completely.
