It is incumbent on us to make sure we adequately explain how the U.S. military is a stabilizing force in Northeast Asia in preventing & deterring the outbreak of armed conflict. – #GenMilley. We look forward to working w/ @thejointstaff to showcase the amazing ROK-US alliance! https://t.co/rF6ZMpTGOs
The U.S. Defense Secretary during his visit to South Korea emphasized that USFK will continue to do its part to help diplomacy with North Korea:
Mark Esper
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday that he is open to altering military activity in South Korea if it helps diplomatic efforts to denuclearize North Korea.
Esper made the remark to reporters flying with him to Seoul, where he is due to hold annual defense talks with Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo.
“We will adjust our exercise posture, either more or less, depending on what diplomacy may require,” Esper said, according to a transcript provided by the Pentagon, referring to South Korea-U.S. combined military exercises that North Korea condemns as an invasion rehearsal.
“I think we have to be open to all those things that empower and enable our diplomats to sit down with the North Koreans, alongside with our South Korean partners, and move the ball forward to a negotiated settlement of the issues that we put on the table,” he added.
Via a reader tip comes this article in the Hankyoreh that discusses the changes that happened to the village outside of Camp Howze after it closed:
Residents of Bongilcheon No. 4 Village, Jori Township, Paju, survey the spot where the US military base Camp Howze used to be stationed. (Park Kyung-man, North Gyeonggi correspondent)
Fifteen years after the departure of the US military base at Camp Howze, the nearby camp town remains frozen in the past like a broken clock.Visiting on Sept. 17 with residents of Bongilcheon No. 4 village from the township of Jori in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, I saw that the vacated buildings of the base in the village’s back hills were still in good condition – but the village itself has faced a rapid decline amid delays in an urban redevelopment project. Previously a quiet farming community of some 50 families on the banks of Gongneung Stream, Bongilcheon No. 4 underwent a full-scale transformation with the sudden arrival of foreign armies when the Korean War broke out in 1950.
Hundreds of people came from all over South Korea in search of employment, including sex workers; they set up tents in front of the US base or rented rooms as they went to work selling services to US soldiers.
The village’s oldest resident at 95, Lee Jae-choon explained, “Now that the US military base is gone, everybody’s scattered, and it’s only the people with no place to go who have settled down and made it their second home.”
For those who have been asking, there will be a Veterans Day Ceremony, on Monday, Nov. 11, at the USFK Memorial, starting at 11 a.m. We honor the contributions & sacrifices of the more than 22 million veterans & service members who have proudly served our country. pic.twitter.com/jADfm9qenL
Gen. Robert B. “Abe” Abrams, Commander of Combined Forces Command, hosted a ceremony this afternoon w/ Gen. Choi Byung-hyuk, deputy commander of CFC to celebrate the 41st CFC Founding Day at Collier Field House, Yongsan. Congratulations CFC #ROKUSAllaince is stronger than ever! pic.twitter.com/ux3qwiMEMi
Here is an editorial in the Korea Times about the USFK curfew issue written by someone named Andrea Plate who describes herself as a clinical social worker. There is a lot to break down in this editorial which I attempt to do:
“We are Ambassadors who represent our country on and off duty,” General Robert Abrams, commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), tweeted over the summer about his decision to continue the curfew suspension for further review of troop behavior and morale, rather than permanently revoke it.
The good general was referring to a sordid news story ― one that was bad for Abrams’ reputation, for the 28,500 American troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula and for the South Korean citizenry. Just five weeks earlier, the 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. curfew had been lifted for a 90-day trial run.
But then an intoxicated soldier attempted to steal a taxi and assault a Korean police officer. He was tasered, turned over to the U.S. military and charged with assault. Procedurally, everything went as it should have, according to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the host country and the U.S. military.
As I have always said to expect no crime out of a population of 28,500 people is not realistic. Crime is going to happen especially when you are dealing with a population of young males that statistically get in more trouble than other demographics. What matters is how they are dealt with and USFK handled the case as they should of.
“A majority of our service members do the right thing,” a seemingly defensive Gen. Abrams remarked. But the majority does not rule when it comes to the USFK. Why didn’t Abrams rescind the curfew for good, as the troops had hoped? “To ensure we are making the correct decision,” he demurred.
Provost Col. Marshall Fivian tried to further explain: The number of violent and disruptive crimes perpetrated by USFK troops had not changed significantly since the curfew had been lifted. Meaning, it hadn’t dropped.
General Abrams in my opinion is just being prudent to gather data before making a final decision one way or another on this issue.
Where there is hysteria, there is history. The curfew was imposed on the USFK, following the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. First billed as a “readiness recall, the message was clear: Attention, soldiers! Protect and defend! (plus, the unspoken, implied threat: Quit getting drunk! Leave the locals alone!).
It is not true that there wasn’t a curfew before the 9/11 attacks. There was a curfew in place for the 2nd Infantry Division before 9/11. However, each unit did have a limited number of Warrior Passes that could be given out to high performing soldiers. So there were still soldiers outside the gate passed curfew who had these passes.
No one likes a curfew. The word itself has a tortured etymological history, from Old French (“cuevrefeu” meant “to cover” and “fire”) to Middle English (“a regulation requiring people to extinguish fires at a fixed hour in the evening, or a bell rung at a particular hour”) to today’s troops’ interpretation: “Unfair,” and “Wish I’d been sent to Japan.”
Nevertheless, the initial curfew held for nine years, was suspended for one, then slapped back a year later in 2011, when news broke that two intoxicated soldiers had committed two high-profile rapes of two very young girls.
The public was enraged, of course. Attacked by their supposed protectors! By comparison, South Korean troops are more disciplined.
Of course she offers no evidence that ROK military troops commit less crime than USFK personnel. I hope she realizes that ROK military troops commit crimes as well. Once again there is going to be crime that occurs with a large population of personnel. How it is handled is what matters.
One might wonder whether the June announcement that the Combined Forces Command (CFC) would relocate to Camp Humphreys ― a safer 77.4 kilometers from the central city ― might temporarily calm some citizens’ nerves (although some U.S. military personnel have expressed concern regarding USFK military readiness and effectiveness).
In theory with more troops PCSing to Korea with their families instead of on one year unaccompanied tours this should further reduce incidents and is maybe why General Abrams is continuing to gather information before making a final curfew decision.
But the move would not happen overnight. Leave it to the U.S. military and the Department of Defense to come up with a quick interim fix: a four-hour curfew (1 a.m. to 5 a.m.). Leave it to the U.S. federal government to make an already slippery slope more slippery, even slipshod.
Curfew penalties can lead to verbal warnings at the very least ― if caught, of course. But while “courtesy patrols” ― duos of U.S. military and Korean National Police ― readily roam the streets of hotspot Itaewon, they do far less at less alluring locations. Is that fair to the troops, or to the hard-working businesspersons whose livelihoods depend on thrill-seeking military men?
In my experience I have never seen anyone picked up for a curfew violation by the military police get a simple verbal reprimand. It has always been an Article 15 action.
It was all so confusing! Can Korean-born spouses of American soldiers roam free? (Yes, although there’s no such written rule). Can individual commanders impose unit curfews at will? (Yes, despite the overall rule). Can exceptions be made? Yes, no and it depends on the case. What’s a Rubik’s cube compared to a giant ball of government red tape?
Truth is, American soldiers are unstoppable. They sneak past restrictions by hiding out in cars and bathrooms at 24-hour coffee shops.
Or, as an exasperated contributor wrote on Rally Point, the American online professional network dubbed “LinkedIn for the military,” some are “compulsive curfew violators,” like the private first class who was demoted for human trafficking but somehow kept his convoy going: “No amount of time spent with the military police deterred him.”
DoD civilian personnel are not subject to the curfew so what does it matter if the spouse is Korean or not? Also I don’t doubt some soldiers hideout after curfew but what evidence does she have this is a widespread practice?
Because you can fight crime, but you can’t fight military culture. Alcohol runs thicker than blood among the troops. Group binges breed feelings of brotherhood, manhood, machismo.
In time, military culture will change ― when more women step up to serve and are promoted; when more military occupation specialties (MOS) are opened to women; when substance abuse and military sexual trauma treatments are integrated into military training. But that will take decades.
The Army’s MOSs are already open to women and US troops receive repeated sexual assault and substance abuse training. Units have to track by name who has attended this training to ensure compliance.
In the meantime, our Armed Forces must remain strong and cannot afford further shrinkage. Fewer opportunities for fun could prompt fewer men to enlist (word gets around). A total 8.3 million served during World War II; roughly 1,055,600 (active duty and reserves) serve today.
During World War II the US military was fighting a global war against multiple enemies that required conscription. There is now no longer a need for such a large military or conscription.
What will happen Dec. 17, when the trial suspension period ends? Will the curfew be permanently levied, or lifted?
We know what the soldiers want. And their families. And the contract workers. And even some officers who take great pride in the troops, for all their human imperfections.
Maybe General Abrams will lift the curfew in time for Christmas or maybe he won’t. We will see, with that said is anyone else confused on what the overall point of this editorial is because it seems to ramble all over the place?
Marine Corps Forces Korea took on the challenge! Congrats to our ROK counterparts as they celebrate their 71st Armed Forces Day today. To compete in the challenge post a video doing 71 secs of PT w/ a shout-out to your ROK counterparts. #71ROK#71YearsROK or #71secChallengepic.twitter.com/B05XM0z38C
USFK is lucky this wasn’t worse of an accident. For example if it killed some kids the South Korean leftists could have used it to start 2002 like protests again:
A U.S. military helicopter accidentally dropped a metal container unit being airlifted Monday in South Korea, damaging a building but causing no injuries, officials said.
The container was being carried via sling load by a 2nd Infantry Division helicopter when it fell onto a building in Yongin, just south of Seoul.
“By all accounts, it did cause property damage, but nobody was injured,” said 2nd ID spokesman Lt. Col. Martyn Crighton. “Unit leaders are on the ground, and a thorough investigation has been launched to determine the circumstances and cause of the accident.”
A facility that was plagued by corruption and mismanagement to construct is closer to fully opening:
After years of delays, the U.S. military held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for a new, $275 million hospital, marking a turning point in the relocation of most American forces to this expanded base south of Seoul.
The opening of the 68-bed Brian D. Allgood Army Community Hospital, also known as BAACH, allows its namesake facility on Yongsan Garrison in Seoul to close. The new hospital, which had already offered outpatient services, will officially open for inpatients on Nov. 15.
The U.S. military broke ground for the hospital and ambulatory care center in November 2012 on land that had been used for helicopter hangars. But construction problems and quality control issues filled the years that followed, as the South Korean contractor Samsung C&T Corp. struggled to meet rigid U.S. standards.
I would think that USFK understands this is not about turning over land, but instead the Moon administration scoring political points for standing up to the big, bad Americans before National Assembly elections next year:
The U.S. military wants to set the record straight as it faces South Korean pressure to expedite the handover of bases as part of a drawn-out relocation plan.
U.S. Forces Korea is ready to turn over more than half of the bases now, including parts of Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, the command said Wednesday in a rare public display of frustration.
South Korea “recently announced that it desired to expedite the return process of 26 U.S. military installations,” USFK said. “Fifteen of the 26 U.S. military installations, including four sites specifically requested for transfer at the earliest possible date … have been vacated, closed and available for transfer to the (South Korean) government.”
“Two parcels of Yongsan Garrison have been vacated, closed and available for transfer since 2014 with another three parcels since summer 2019 for a total of five parcels available now,” it added.
You can read the rest at the link, but the ROK government is stating that they are not accepting the hand over of the facilities that USFK has vacated because of environmental concerns knowing full well that the Status of Forces Agreement states that the ROK will accept the land “as is”.
This is a standard play call from the Korean left wing playbook. They demand the turn over of USFK facilities, but when USFK tries to do just that they play delay games declaring the property is polluted. This allows activists and politicians to grandstand and claim how USFK is polluting Korea and if it wasn’t for left wing politicians and activists they would get away with it, so donate and vote for us.
Back during the last big hand over of land during the left wing Roh Moo-hyun administration they kept claiming that the bases in the 2nd Infantry Division area were too polluted to be handed over. For example it was claimed that Camp Kyle was a no use area that required people to enter the base with anti-contamination suits. I knew this was misinformation and walked over to Camp Kyle and took a picture of people walking around with out anti-contamination suits. The propaganda got so bad that a blockbuster Korean horror movie based on the premise that USFK pollution created the monster that was going around killing Koreans.
Expect more misinformation in the coming months about how polluted the U.S. bases are and that South Korea should not pay one dime extra in US-ROK alliance upkeep costs because of it. The Korean left is likely not going to want this issued resolved until after not only next year’s National Assembly elections, but possibly the 2022 ROK Presidential election as well.
