Apparently the homes on Yongsan Garrison that were handed back to the Korean government are now a popular location for the Korean public to go and take pictures at:
These brick townhouses were once home to American officers and their families, but South Korea has gained control of this tract of land on the southeastern tip of the Army’s Yongsan Garrison, nearly two decades after the U.S. and Korea set in motion a plan to relocate the bulk of America’s troops in the country to a location south of Seoul and return the property to the government.
The village, which consists of 18 buildings, is now open to the public, and it is crowded with people who came to get a glimpse of the inside of the garrison and to snap selfies against the backdrop of American-style, two- and three-story townhouses.
Happy Thanksgiving, Warriors! Thanksgiving 1990, Camp Howze in the HHC 3d Bde mess hall, the best one in 2ID. We were honored that award was presented by BG Bob Foley. There were about 40,000 US troops then in Korea, but BG Foley was the only one who wore the Medal of Honor. pic.twitter.com/CMp6PtnDy5
According to the article kids were going to the CDC sick which is what likely caused the outbreak:
The Capt. Jennifer M. Moreno School Age Center at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, reopened Monday, Nov. 15, 2021, more than a dozen people tested positive for COVID-19 over the previous week. (U.S. Army)
Thirteen people, including nearly a dozen children, linked to an on-base children’s center recently tested positive for the coronavirus respiratory disease, an official at the center said Tuesday.
At least 11 children and two staff members from the Capt. Jennifer M. Moreno School Age Center on Humphreys tested positive within the past week, center coordinator Tiffany Harris told Stars and Stripes by phone. Around 178 children in grades one through five are enrolled in the center, which employs 24 people.
The center, which provides children with after-school programs, was closed Friday for cleaning and sanitizing; it reopened Monday.
You can read more at the link, but if we learned anything from this pandemic it is to not send your sick kid to school or if you are sick don’t go to work.
It was only a matter of time before USFK aligned themselves with the Korean government’s new “Living with COVID” strategy:
Since August, the U.S. military has prohibited or discouraged its population from visiting districts in South Korea that confirmed 50 or more COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people over seven days. (U.S. Forces Korea)
Americans affiliated with the U.S. military in South Korea were free to move about the country as of Friday, when U.S. Forces Korea lifted its coronavirus travel restrictions.
USFK, the command responsible for roughly 28,500 American troops on the peninsula, said in a news release its troops and other personnel are no longer subject to travel restrictions meant to curb the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus respiratory disease.
Looser restrictions for U.S. personnel, including Defense Department civilian employees, contractors and family members, “better align with the [South Korean] government’s ‘Living with COVID-19’ initiatives,” according to USFK.
No details on what happened, but condolences to SGT Haflei’s friends and family:
A U.S. Army infantryman died at a South Korean army base on Oct. 17, the 2nd Infantry Division announced in a news release Wednesday.
Sgt. Joe Haflei, 33, of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, served as a team leader with the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
The command said his death is under investigation but no foul play is suspected.
An Eighth Army soldier who died with his wife and their 16-month-old child in a car crash in South Korea earlier in the week was identified by his command on Wednesday.
Taveras was a quartermaster and chemical equipment repairer with the 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command. He served four years in the Army and arrived in South Korea in June.
Though cases are dropping nationally in South Korea there has been a slight uptick in cases in Seoul which has led to this decision:
U.S. Forces Korea put four districts in Seoul and three in adjacent Gyeonggi province off-limits following a rise in COVID-19 cases there, according to an announcement Wednesday.
Only mission-essential visits are permitted to the Jongno, Yeongdeungpo, Guro and Geumcheon districts in Seoul and the Gwacheon, Dongducheon and Ansan districts in Gyeonggi, according to USFK’s weekly travel restrictions update. The command placed 10 districts off-limits Wednesday.
The Jongno district includes the U.S. Embassy, Seoul City Hall and the presidential Blue House. Camp Humphreys, the headquarters for USFK and the U.N. Command, and Osan Air Base are in Gyeonggi province.
All Koreans that work for USFK will have to receive the COVID vaccine by next month:
Civilian Defense Department employees receive a COVID-19 vaccine at Osan Air Base, South Korea, March 12, 2021. (Noah Sudolcan/U.S. Air Force)
All Korean civilians employed by the U.S. military in South Korea are required to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by Nov. 22, according to a U.S. Forces Korea memo obtained by Stars and Stripes.
The Oct. 13 memo, signed by foreign labor program director Lebanon Spann, cites President Joe Biden’s executive order last month requiring all U.S. federal employees to be vaccinated “to ensure the health and safety of the federal workforce and members of the public with whom they interact.”
“The health and safety of the federal workforce, and the health and safety of members of the public with whom they interact, are foundational to the efficiency of the civil service,” Biden’s executive order said, adding that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “has found that the best way to do so is to be vaccinated.”
Photos and videos from near Camp Humphreys, South Korea, showed collapsed buildings and signs from a heavy storm on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021. (Rie Morrison)
Several Army helicopters were damaged in a storm that battered this U.S. base 40 miles south of Seoul on Friday evening, according to the 2nd Infantry Division.
The division declined to provide specifics on the damage, citing operational security policies, but the command was “conducting maintenance checks across the fleet,” according to a statement to Stars and Stripes on Monday.
The helicopters were not in the air during the storm and no injuries were reported, Lt. Col. Ryan Donald, the division’s public affairs director, said Saturday.
