Category: USFK

Do people actually think a name change of an exercise really matters in regards to whether Kim Jong-un will get upset? 

South Korea and the United States are considering renaming their major annual combined exercises, apparently as part of efforts to support ongoing diplomacy with North Korea, a military source in Seoul said Monday.
The allies have been in consultation on their overall plans for next year’s exercises, such as the springtime Key Resolve and the summertime Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG), as they explore ways to prevent them from negatively affecting ongoing peace efforts.
“The South and U.S. have been coordinating their plans for next year’s training, and they have also been mulling the possibility of renaming them,” the source told Yonhap News Agency on condition of anonymity.
“But nothing has been decided yet. Sooner or later, there will be an official announcement regarding the plans for the exercises and their names,” he added.
The allies have reportedly been considering changing Key Resolve into the ’19-1 Exercise and UFG into ’19-2 Exercise. Such a change, if finalized, would reportedly be one of the first major alliance decisions since current U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Robert Abrams took office on Nov. 8.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the North Koreans will use any US-ROK exercise as an excuse for complaint or provocation if the sanctions are not dropped.  They can call a joint exercise “Pink Unicorns 2019” and the Kim regime will be complaining if sanctions are not dropped by then.  

So ROK Heads it is time for you to do your civic duty and help US and ROK planners with a name change that will not offend Kim Jong-un.  So who has some great ideas on what to name US-ROK military exercises?   

Condolences to the friends and family of Captain Joonki Min:

An airman working as an emergency room nurse assigned to the 51st Medical Operations Squadron was found dead at Osan Air Base in South Korea, according to a press release.

Air Force Capt. Joonki Min, 45, a Korean-American from Forest Park, Ill., was found at his on-base residence Monday, the 51st Fighter Wing’s public affairs office said Thursday. It did not provide more details, saying the cause of death is under investigation.  [Stars & Stripes]

It looks like there was another security incident at Camp Humphreys this weekend:

Camp Humphreys, the main U.S. military base in South Korea, closed one of its main access gates this weekend after an incident with a car.

The incident happened about 2 p.m. Saturday and did not involve a gate runner, said garrison spokesman Steven Hoover. He declined to provide more details pending the ongoing investigation.

A photo posted on Facebook showed a four-door car that appeared to have smashed into a raised barrier at the Dongchang-ri gate on Saturday, with the concertina wire and concrete walls that surround the garrison in the background. [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

It is good to see that General Paul Freeman’s name is being maintained on the new 2ID division headquarters building at Camp Humphreys:

The 2nd Infantry Division dedicated its new headquarters building on Camp Humphreys Tuesday, officially opening a new chapter after moving from its decades-old home north of Seoul.

The ceremony took place at the entrance of the new Freeman Hall, which retains the name of the previous headquarters on Camp Red Cloud in Uijeongbu.

The Indianhead Division has been stationed near the front lines with North Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice instead of a peace treaty.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but if you are interested in learning more about one of my Heroes of the Korean War, Paul Freeman I recommend checking out the below link:

https://www.rokdrop.net/2007/02/heroes-of-the-korean-war-colonel-paul-freeman/

So does anyone really think Yongsan Garrison will be completely turned into a park?:

Garrison commander Col. Monica Washington said the process of returning the land to the South Korean government isn’t likely to begin until July 2020 at the earliest.

“At that point then we think that we will be ready, of course if everything goes according to plan, to begin to look at some of the return, actually going through some of the returns process, which is actually going to take some time,” she told Stars and Stripes.

The next major milestone will be late next year when the Brian Allgood Community Hospital is due to close as its namesake hospital on Humphreys opens. That will trigger the closure of the commissary, the post exchange, the gas station and other facilities.

“There will be a … very minute footprint here on Yongsan, although we will still have families that we will have to support here,” Washington said in a recent interview in her office near a pedestrian overpass that crosses a busy thoroughfare that bisects the base.

She estimated it will take six or seven months to do the closure process, including moving equipment and turning off utilities, once most of the garrison is vacated in December 2019.

The military plans to maintain a small section for residual forces from the Combined Forces Command, USFK, the garrison and supporting agencies on the side of the base known as South Post. Dragon Hill Lodge, a resort-style military hotel, is planning to continue operations despite reports to the contrary. The U.S. Embassy also has residential housing in the area, although it will eventually build a new compound on a corner of the sub-base known as Camp Coiner.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but the ROK government is sticking with the idea of making a city park.  I suspect a park will be built one day over the old Yongsan Garrison, but it will be a smaller park the initially envisioned.  The rest of the land I would not be surprised is developed for other purposes around the smaller park.

One more thing shutting down further signaling the imminent closure of Yongsan Garrison:

U.S. elementary, middle and high schools on Yongsan will close at the end of this school year as the military population shifts to its new headquarters south of Seoul, officials said Friday.

Seoul American Elementary School and Seoul American Middle High School have been run for decades to serve the children of soldiers and others stationed in South Korea.

But Yongsan’s population has declined sharply as U.S. Forces Korea and the other commands moved to Camp Humphreys, which has its own schools, as part of a long-delayed relocation plan.

“The decision and request by the command to no longer operate schools in Seoul is based on the pace and requirements of the Yongsan transformation efforts,” the military said in a press release.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

Condolences to Sergeant Aguon’s friends and family:

A 1st Armored Division soldier died after being found unconscious at a base in South Korea, the Army said Wednesday. The cause was under investigation.

Sgt. Marcos John Aguon, 28, was a cannon crew member with the Fort Bliss, Texas-based 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, which rotated to South Korea last month.

He was found unconscious at Camp Hovey and pronounced dead Sunday at Joongang St. Mary’s Hospital in the surrounding city of Dongducheon, which is near the border with North Korea.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

Yongsan US military base in central Seoul will be open to the public for the first time in 114 years to solicit South Korean public’s views on how to transform the base into a park. Yep and it seems like it’s open to Koreans only… https://t.co/icQEoMfqFs

— Minseon Ku (@minseon_ku) November 6, 2018

Here is a fun but unusual story about a unit mascot deployed to South Korea:

A Texas-based unit’s youngest and furriest soldier is breathing easier, literally, thanks to a Halloween-night surgery in South Korea.

Pfc. Tank Chester, a 7-month-old Victorian bulldog who serves as mascot for the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division “Bulldogs,” had his soft palate trimmed and nostrils widened at Camp Humphreys’ veterinary clinic to ease the airways for the member of the notoriously hard-breathing breed.

“He’s the face and symbol of who we are,” Cpl. Mitchell Duncan, Chester’s handler, said at the clinic Wednesday.

Chester, along with the rest of the Bulldog brigade, arrived in South Korea last month taking the reigns as the 2nd Infantry Division’s sole brigade combat team on the peninsula.

While technically an elective surgery, it’s a nearly necessary one for the active mascot, who like his predecessors is expected to ride shotgun with the unit’s command team in everything from helicopters to tanks as they inspect and boost morale to the brigade’s troops.

“With these English bulldogs… we’ve bred in the smoosh face, which looks really cool, however it comes with its own complications,” said Camp Humphreys veterinarian surgeon Capt. Sean Curry. “It’s really a struggle for them to breathe.”

Chester is the ninth of his name since the first was donated in 1940 by the British as a “token of appreciation,” Duncan said. He comes with a full complement of soldiering gear, including identification cards, a passport and a rank he’s still living up to.

“He’s a Pfc. for a reason — he’s got an attitude, he’s a little stubborn, and he still does things his way,” the 24-year-old from Redfield N.Y., said jokingly. “He’s your typical bulldog. He loves people; loves attention. His idea of fun is sitting on the couch and watching TV with you.”  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest from the Stars & Stripes on the closing of Camp Red Cloud:

The Indianhead Division officially moved its headquarters to Camp Humphreys, some 40 miles south of Seoul, last week, becoming the last major command to do so, after the Eighth Army and U.S. Forces Korea. The grand opening of its new headquarters building, which will also be called Freeman Hall, is scheduled for next month.

Camp Red Cloud is on the northwestern edge of Uijeongbu, which was home to the real-life unit that inspired the popular TV show “M.A.S.H.” The base was originally known as Camp Jackson but was renamed in 1957 in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Cpl. Mitchell Red Cloud Jr.

But the shuttering of facilities is only the start of a lengthy transition process, including the capping of utilities and fuel tanks, negotiations over environmental cleanup requirements and other issues related to the status of forces agreement between the two countries.

“It’s estimated that the earliest that CRC will be able to be returned to the [South Korean government] is sometime in January/February 2020 if all of that process goes through and there are no issues,” said Paul Hubbard, the garrison’s lead base-closure analyst.

Hubbard said it has taken between three and 15 years to hand over other bases that have been closed due to disagreements over obligations for environmental cleanup and other issues.

The land will be turned over to the Defense Ministry, but city officials say they’re hoping it will be developed as a security-themed park.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but I seriously doubt that Camp Red Cloud will be handed over by 2020 because I really think the anti-US left in South Korea will claim all kinds of environmental pollution like they have done in the past to delay closing vacated US bases and try to get more money out of USFK.  However, their biggest goal this time will be to cause antagonism in the US-ROK alliance.

Here are a couple of prior articles I wrote about Camp Red Cloud that I recommend everyone read if you haven’t already:

https://www.rokdrop.net/2005/05/profile-camp-red-cloud-south-korea/

https://www.rokdrop.net/2012/10/the-true-story-of-how-camp-red-cloud-south-korea-got-its-name/