Category: USFK

The 2nd Infantry Division headquarters will move to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek next year which means Camp Red Cloud will be closed and redeveloped:

A U.S. military base in Uijeongbu in Gyeonggi Province will be turned into tourist facilities after U.S. forces there move to Pyeongtaek, the city government said Wednesday.

The U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division (2ID) stationed at Camp Red Cloud (CRC) is scheduled to be moved to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek next year in accordance with Seoul and Washington’s plans to relocate the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). Pyeongtaek is located 70 kilometers south of the capital.

“We will come up with detailed plans by February 2018 to turn CRC into a tourist complex,” the city said in a release. “Toward that end, we recently commissioned a study to a private, specialized company.”

Once the 628,000 square meters of land are vacated, the city is planning to create a complex in which visitors can learn about Korea’s modern and contemporary history as well as the importance of national security.

The city is also considering using records related to the Korean War, World War II and the Vietnam War, currently stored in a CRC war museum.

After detailed plans are prepared and a feasibility and profitability study is conducted, the city will ask the central government to lead in the construction.

The city expects the envisioned complex will be especially attractive to tourists, together with another cultural complex there whose construction is scheduled to be completed in 2018. The cultural complex will host a Pororo theme park, featuring the popular animated character, and family hotels as well as YG Entertainment’s YG Global K-Pop Cluster. [Korea Times via a reader tip]

You can read more at the link, but a history complex and a Pororo Theme Park to me seems like it does not go together very well.  Plus Korea already has so many museums that another one in Uijongbu will not drive tourism to the city.  The government should turn the whole thing into a giant Pororo Theme Park which would drive tourism to Uijongbu and further develop that part of the city.  As it is right now Koreans really don’t have a reason to go to Uijongbu and a Pororo Theme Park would give Korean families a good reason to visit.

This photo taken from the website of the 8th Army of the United States Forces Korea (USFK) on Nov. 7, 2016, shows families of U.S. troops boarding a C-130 transport plane during the recent Courageous Channel noncombatant evacuation exercise at an undisclosed military base here. About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed here as a deterrent against North Korea, while there are more than 150,000 civilians with the USFK, including U.S. government noncombatants, and private American citizens and their families. (Yonhap)

Via a reader tip comes this article from Korea Bizwire criticizing USFK’s use of electricity compared to the ROK military.

Recent data from the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) showed that electricity consumption per capita for the USFK was almost ten times the average rate for the Korean military, again raising questions over excessive energy consumption by American military personnel stationed on the peninsula.

According to KEPCO, electricity consumption by the USFK was 683 million kWh in 2015,  compared to 1.595 billion kWh for the Korean military.

However, given the number of personnel, with 28,500 American soldiers but around 630,000 Koreans, the average American soldier (23,965 kWh) consumed 9.47 times more electricity than their Korean counterpart (2,531 kW), the data noted.

Officials suggest that the USFK’s cheaper electricity rates are one of the factors encouraging excessive consumption of electricity.

The USFK currently receives electricity benefits, paying cheaper rates than Korean households and even industrial customers, which pay the lowest rate at 107.41 won per kWh. In 2015, the USFK paid a rate of 106.94 won/kWh, while the rates were 122.28 won/kWh for the Korean military, 123.69 won for households, and 113.22 won for educational institutions.

Another electricity benefit includes exemption of penalties or interest for overdue electricity bills.  [Korea Bizwire via reader tip]

You can read more at the link, but considering the various command centers, barracks, family housing, commissaries, exchanges, etc. that US military bases have compared to a typical ROK military installation its seems this article is comparing apples to oranges.

Some of the most powerful ROK and US military officers were recently in Guam touring United States strategic assets located on the island:

South Korea’s top military officer visited Guam and exchanged views with top U.S. brass on ways to further strengthen their alliance against North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Tuesday.

JCS Chairman Gen. Lee Sun-jin and U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Vincent K. Brooks examined the range of U.S. strategic assets in Guam along with senior leaders from the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Pacific Command, the JCS said in a statement.

“The Seoul-Washington alliance is capable of immediately responding to any type of provocation from North Korea. The allies will consider all options, including the rotational deployment of U.S. strategic assets near the Korean Peninsula, if the North sticks to developing nuclear weapons,” Lee said in a joint press conference held at Naval Base Guam, according to the statement.  (……..)

The military leaders then inspected strategic assets such as the B-1B strategic bombers, nuclear-powered submarines and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery set up in Guam to intercept possible incoming missiles from the communist North.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

I just have little sympathy for these bar owners complaining about the fact that USFK has eaten way at their juicy girl model which at one time brought them huge profits:

Pyeongtaek has embraced U.S. Army Garrison Camp Humphreys on its soil for many years. And under a relocation plan, more U.S. troops ― the 8th Army headquarters and the 2nd Infantry Division ― will move into the city by 2017, making Pyeongtaek a centerpiece of Seoul-Washington military ties.

All appears to be peaceful and harmonious there. But just beneath the surface of the relationship is growing anger toward the United States Forces Korea (USFK).

While massive construction work for the relocation is under way, the U.S. military in the region has been blamed for prejudicing local business owners’ sovereignty and hurting their livelihoods with what they call “off-limits” action.   (………)

“The current off-limits restrictions clearly infringe on our sovereignty and autonomy,” an official surnamed Park, from the Pyeongtaek branch of the Korea Foreigner Tourist Facility Association (KFTFA), told The Korea Times.

Park said bars have been declared off-limits without warning. The regulation takes effect right after the owners receive a written notice from the U.S. military that briefly explains the reasons for the ban. The owners are not provided with further evidence or details of what provoked the order.

In addition, there is no route to confirm the validity of incidents because “off-limits” are issued based on anecdotal evidence provided by service members or military police of the USFK. This is why bar owners are calling it “absurd.” [Korea Times]

You can read much more about the bar owner complaints at the link, but the argument that their sovereignty is being violated is ridiculous.  They can have all the juicy girls and prostitution they want in their business.  USFK isn’t telling them how to run their business.  However, USFK is under no obligation to allow its servicemembers to patronize such establishments.  Putting businesses off limits to servicemembers is not something that is only done in Korea; in fact in the United States each US military installation has a list of businesses that are off limits to servicemembers as well.

I wonder what the backstory on this was?  Was this simply just someone forgetting to pay the bills?:

U.S. Forces Korea paid South Korea’s main electricity company nearly $2 million this week after a report that it was overdue on its bills for the year.

USFK had failed to pay 1.9 billion won worth of electricity bills from January to July, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported over the weekend. It cited data submitted by the Korea Electric Power Corp., known as KEPCO, to the National Assembly’s Trade, Industry and Energy Committee.

A KEPCO official told Stars and Stripes the utility received 1.6 billion won from USFK on Monday and 2.8 million won on Thursday. That amounts to about $1.7 million.

The military still owes some money, the official said without providing a specific amount. The KEPCO official spoke on condition of anonymity.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link.

Here is the latest on the Rodriguez Range noise complaint issue:

The U.S. military agreed Thursday to address noise complaints and safety concerns about the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex near the border with North Korea.

Lt. Gen. Thomas Vandal, 8th Army commander, signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at forging a stronger bond between residents in the rural area and U.S. forces who train there.

The mountainous, 3,390-acre training complex is considered essential by U.S. Forces Korea and their South Korean allies for military exercises to maintain a state of readiness amid high tensions on the divided peninsula. It will remain operational even after most U.S. forces relocate south to an expanded Camp Humphreys.

But nearby residents have long complained about noise, fires and occasional mishaps. Training was temporarily halted after an anti-tank missile fired by U.S. Marines on Dec. 30 landed in an abandoned building about 650 feet outside the range’s boundary.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but the MOA is supposed to include guidelines on how troops will conduct safe training and respond to local noise complaints.

If you believe in the results of computerized wargames than the North Koreans do not stand a chance against USFK:

This year’s joint exercise with U.S. forces demonstrated that the military might of the two allies could bring the North Korean command to its knees, a senior military official said Tuesday.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the 2016 Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG), carried out between Aug. 22 and Sept. 2, and involving a simulated war game pitting Korea-U.S. joint forces against the North Korean military, was run with the Operation Plan (Oplan) 5015, which was first included in the UFG exercise last year.

Oplan 5015 calls for pre-emptive strikes against North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missiles facilities as well as its top leaders.

“At the early phase of the simulation war game,” said the official, “the two sides had a series of fierce battles. But as time went by, the allied forces were able to strike back and advance towards the north of Pyongyang and eventually annihilated the leadership in the capital.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

The games are on and no I am not talking about the Olympics:

The U.S. and South Korea kicked off a new round of war games Monday despite protests from the North, which threatened a pre-emptive nuclear strike.

The annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises come as relations between the two Koreas have sharply deteriorated since North Korea conducted its fourth underground atomic test in January. Tensions spiked again last week when Seoul confirmed that a senior North Korean diplomat had defected from his post at Pyongyang’s embassy in London.

About 25,000 U.S. servicemembers — including 2,500 from areas off the peninsula — and 50,000 South Korean forces will participate in the nearly two-week drills, which are mainly computer simulations.

The U.N. military armistice commission gave the North Koreans advance notice about the exercise, which runs through Sept. 2, and stressed its “nonprovocative nature,” the Combined Forces Command said in a statement.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see what provocation North Korea tries for this UFG.

Happy 66th anniversary to the KATUSA program:

The Korean Augmentation Troops to the U.S. Army (KATUSA) celebrated the 66th anniversary of its foundation Monday, according to the KATUSA Veterans Association.

Some 400 U.S. military officials, KATUSA war veterans, KATUSA reservists and active-duty KATUSA soldiers participated in the event at Camp Jackson, a U.S. military base, in Uijeongbu, north of Seoul.

KATUSA Veterans Association Chairman Kim Jong-wook and 2nd Infantry Division Commander Theodore D. Martin were among the participants. Chairman Kim delivered a welcoming speech following a silent tribute to patriotic martyrs and then Commander Martin as guest speaker gave a keynote speech on the meaning of the 66th anniversary for the two allies.

Commander Martin said KATUSA has operated like a set of well-running wheels for the U.S. and South Korean armies for the past 66 years. He asked KATUSA soldiers to continue their bridging role in strengthening the bilateral alliance.

“Today, the strength of the KATUSA Program serves as a symbol of the friendship and continued commitment between the two countries. This strength is vital, and it enhances our combined ability to deter aggression and maintain peace in the Korean Peninsula,” he said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link to include a story about a South Korean family that had three generations serve in the KATUSA program.  The KATUSA program has definitely been a success since its founding by General Douglas MacArthur during the Korean War.