Category: USFK

In recent months I made my way up to Uijeongbu to visit friends and we ate dinner at a budaechigae restaurant near where the old USFK military bases Camp Kyle and Camp Sears were located. For people that have never seen Camp Kyle before, here is what it looked like before it closed in 2005:

From the restaurant I could look right into where Camp Kyle was once located. Currently there are no buildings standings and essentially the land is slowly being reclaimed by nature:

Long time ROK Heads may remember that Camp Kyle was at the center of environmental pollution claims made by the anti-US groups and the ROK media at the time. For example the ROK media was claiming that Camp Kyle was so polluted that people had to walk around in “anti-contamination suits” to protect themselves. I knew this was bogus and did something no one in the Korea media decided to do and actually visited Camp Kyle. Of course I saw no one wearing anti-contamination suits.

Regardless Camp Kyle remained one of the frontlines in the USFK pollution debate with the ROK government demanding that U.S. pay to decontaminate the soil at the camp. ROK Heads may remember that the pollution clean up costs have come up during the ongoing US-ROK alliance cost sharing negotiations this month.

After eating dinner we then took a walk around the Geumo-dong neighborhood towards where Camp Sears used to be located.

For those that have never been to Camp Sears here is how it looked back in 2005:

This is what Camp Sears looks like today:

Besides the typical commercial buildings that have gone up around the old camp, a couple of major government buildings have been constructed right on where Camp Sears was once located. The first is a Uijeongbu government service building:

The other is the Northern Gyeongi-do Provisional Police headquarters:

Around these buildings a number of parks have been constructed on the old Camp Sears property, however they are not being maintained:

You would think that with all the money spent on these new government buildings there would be enough money left over to pay a gardener:

Around the government buildings there is now a road that has been constructed, Cheongbo-ro which is named after the mountain behind the old camp, Cheonbosan:

A walk completely around the old camp and could find no sign of the existence of the former camp anywhere. Adjacent to Camp Sears there used to be an area that housed ROK Army fuel storage tanks. This property now has a major construction project underway on it:

After walking around Camp Sears we then walked over to the major Geumo-dong shopping district that has not changed much since 2005 when Camp Kyle and Sears closed.

The Home Plus remains the major shopping attraction in the Geumo-dong neighborhood:

It may be hard to believe, but prior to 2000 this shopping area was actually home to various farms. The closing of Camp Kyle and Camp Sears is just a continuation of South Korea’s incredible development. The camp’s are mostly a long forgotten memory for people that live there, just like the farms the shopping district now sits on top of.

Whenever an alert drill happens there are procedures each unit runs through. Each unit likely did not get very far in their alert procedures before the all clear was given as a false alarm. This is much to do about nothing other than making sure it is harder for someone to make a user error mistake like this again:

A U.S. Army base in South Korea accidentally sounded an emergency siren Thursday night, sending some soldiers into a frenzy amid threats of an unwanted “Christmas gift” from North Korea, news reports said.

The incident occurred at Camp Casey in Dongducheon, 40 kilometers north of Seoul, the closest U.S. Army base to the North Korean border.

The Washington Post reported that the siren went off around 10 p.m. instead of taps, the bugle call played at military funerals and on military bases to mark the end of the day.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the U.S. might sending a message back to the North Koreans about what could happen in response to their “Christmas Present”:

 Special forces of South Korea and the United States carried out regular combined drills last month at a South Korean air force base under the scenario of raiding an enemy camp and capturing an agent, apparently targeting North Korea.

According to photos released by the U.S. military, the U.S.’ Special Operations Command Korea and South Korea’s Special Warfare Command conducted “close quarters battle training” at Kunsan Air Base located in South Korea’s western city of Gunsan in November as part of their regular training program.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Condolences to his friends and family:

 A 2nd Infantry Division soldier who worked as a mortuary affairs specialist was found dead Sunday in his barracks room, the Army said Thursday. The cause of death is under investigation.

Staff Sgt. Deontae D. Allen, 27, of Kansas City, Mo., was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene on Camp Humphreys by emergency medical personnel on Sunday, according to a press release.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The Stars & Stripes has an article about the curfew ending and here is a quote from the Provost Marshall on Osan Airbase I found interesting:

“We continue to be disappointed with the actions of a few individuals, mainly soldiers going out and getting into fights at night,” provost marshal Col. John Fivian told Stars and Stripes on Monday at USFK headquarters on Camp Humphreys.

He said problems were more noticeable in South Korea because troops who get into trouble are usually turned over to their commands; in the U.S., they would be dealt with by local authorities.

Stars & Stripes

I am sure the Provost understands this, but if servicemembers are arrested off base it is more nuanced than stating they are just handed over to their commands. Here is what the SOFA says:

The US retained custody until the completion of all judicial proceedings, including appeals prior to 2001. Under the revised SOFA, the ROK may now receive custody upon indictment if it requests in any one of twelve categories of serious cases. Such cases include murder, rape, kidnapping, arson, drug trafficking or manufacturing, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and cases of assaults, drunk driving or fleeing the scene of an accident that result in death. In very serious cases of murder or rape, if the Korean police arrest a SOFA accused in the act, in hot pursuit, or before he or she returns to military control, they may retain custody.

US-ROK SOFA Pamphlet

For minor crimes, yes servicemembers are usually handed over back to their commands, but for major crimes the Korean authorities can keep them in custody.

Via a reader tip comes news that USFK has officially ended the curfew:

United States Forces Korea ended the USFK-wide curfew for Service Members effective December 17, 2019.

The original 90 day curfew suspension, and subsequent 90 day curfew suspension extension assessments, imposed from June 17 through December 17, focused on Service Member behavior, morale, readiness factors and the capability for USFK Service Members to maintain good order and discipline, at all times and under all conditions. 

“After assessing the curfew data and consulting with USFK leaders including component commanders, I decided to end the curfew effective December 17,” said Gen. Robert B. “Abe” Abrams, United States Forces Korea Commander. “The 180 day curfew suspension enabled leaders at all levels of the chain of command to recommend keeping the curfew, continuing the suspension, or ending the curfew. All recommended its termination.”

When informing USFK commanders and leaders that he was ending the curfew, Gen. Abrams reinforced two key principles by which every leader and Service Member must abide: continually instill and maintain good order and discipline, regardless of time or location, and maintain focus on their “Fight Tonight” posture, approach and mentality. 

“Leaders are responsible for our Service Members on and off-post conduct; we are ambassadors of USFK, the United States and the US-RoK Alliance to the Korean people,” said Abrams. “We have a solemn responsibility to keep readiness at its highest levels with a “Fight Tonight” posture, approach and mentality. Our capability and capacity to remain ready at all times is non-negotiable.” 

All Service Members are responsible to act in accordance with USFK regulations, standards of conduct and Korean Law at all times. These actions will serve as a demonstration to the ROK people that we will safeguard vital relationships while maintaining the ironclad Alliance.

USFK website

My opinion on the whole curfew issue is that I don’t like the curfew especially with more families now being stationed in Korea in an effort to normalize assignment to Korea.

Statistics say there is going to eventually be a major GI crime incident that happens. Especially if the Moon administration moves in an anti-US direction in the coming months and unleashes the media to report every GI crime incident that happens to turn public opinion against USFK. This is what happened during the Roh Moo-hyun administration.

So if a major GI crime incident does happen what will the command do, reimplement the curfew to show they doing something? That is what happened the last time the curfew was lifted. If so why remove it in the first place?

My guess would be that the Moon administration does not want this environmental assessment to begin in order to keep the perception that the THAAD deployment is “temporary”:

South Korea has yet to conduct a full-scale environmental survey of the site of an advanced U.S. anti-missile battery, sources said Sunday, amid lingering opposition from local residents and complaints from China. 

U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) completed installing a full six-launcher Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery at a base in the southern provincial town of Seongju last year in an effort to cope better with growing missile threats from North Korea.

The installation began under the previous administration in 2017 after a scaled-back environmental impact study. Later that year, the government of current President Moon Jae-in took office and decided to implement a full-scale environmental assessment survey of the 700,000-square-meter plot of land before the “provisional” installation becomes final.

But the survey has yet to take place, sources said.

Yonhap via a reader tip

You can read more at the link.

Here is more details on the incident involving an F-16 at Kunsan Airbase:

An F-16 pilot who was injured when he ejected at Kunsan Air Base has been released from the hospital, but the aircraft was damaged, according to the Air Force.

The Fighting Falcon pilot from the 8th Fighter Wing suffered minor injuries when he ejected during a landing after a routine sortie on Monday.

He was released in good condition, the 8th Fighter Wing said Wednesday in a press release.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but the article did not say exactly what caused the pilot to eject.

It seems that Korean workers would only be furloughed if there was U.S. troop cuts in South Korea. This is essentially what happened in the 2004-2005 timeframe when 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division was removed from the peninsula which helped lead to a number of U.S. military camp closures. We are not at that point yet with the current cost sharing issue:

Either on normal tours of duty or under a rotational scheme, American troops have comfortably adapted to their new lives in Korea thanks to seamless administrative, health, transportation, communications and cleaning services on the ground.

At the core of their adaptation is a little-known group of around 12,500 South Korean workers, many of whom are gripped by concerns that they could face unpaid leave or furloughs should defense cost-sharing talks between Seoul and Washington go awry.

The concerns have hardened into fears for Kim Hyun-woo, agitated by the passing thought that he could fail to bring home the bacon should he be furloughed by the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), albeit temporarily. He used an alias due to the sensitivity of the issue.

“Though my wife works part time, I am the breadwinner, shouldering all costs related to food, mortgage repayments, education fees for my children and so on. You know what would happen to my family should I be forced to go on leave,” Kim told Yonhap News Agency.

“I hope that my worries about the furlough will be cleared soon, but I also wish that South Korea and the U.S. can find a good compromise, not a hurried one that could end up damaging the interests of both sides,” he added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The article doesn’t say what condition the aircraft was in other than the pilot was injured. Hopefully he the pilot isn’t injured too badly:

 A pilot from a United States Air force unit in the South Korean city of Gunsan sustained injuries while landing an F-16 fighter jet at the unit’s air base Monday.

The pilot from the 8th Fighter Wing suffered minor injuries while trying to get out of the fighter on the runway at around 3:30 p.m., according to military sources. 

The pilot was sent to a hospital, although the exact reason the pilot tried to exit the cockpit and the overall condition F-16 at the time of the landing remain unclear. 

No crash or explosion were reported at the base on South Korea’s west coast, 270 kilometers south of Seoul.

Following the incident, the head of the 8th Fighter Wing temporarily halted all military and civilian flight operations from Gunsan. Investigators are currently looking into the exact cause of the mishap.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.