The pool photo released on Dec. 13, 2015, shows the new headquarters of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) being built in Pyeongtaek, southeast of Seoul. USFK is moving its troops in Seoul and its vicinity to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, and officials said the relocation will be delayed to 2017 from 2016. Some 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea to deter North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War ended only in a truce instead of a peace treaty. (Yonhap)
The Camp Humphreys relocation is expected to take another year to complete due to a scandal that sent the construction company into bankruptcy and its Korean owner committing suicide:
Camp Humphreys Garrison in Pyongtaek, Gyeonggi Province was opened to the press on Dec. 10, showing the ongoing construction.
The relocation of US forces in South Korea (USFK) to the new base in Pyeongtaek is expected to be completed in 2017, one year later than originally planned.The announcement was made by Kim Kie-soo, director of the office for USFK relocation at South Korea‘s Defense Ministry, and Lt. Gen. Bernard Champoux, commander of the US’s Eighth Army. The two officials spoke to reporters on Dec. 10 at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, which is currently under construction.“As of the end of November, progress on construction of the Pyeongtaek base stood at 86 percent, and most of this will be completed next year.
The relocation of the US army base will begin next year and will for the most part be completed by 2017,” Kim told reporters.This means that the move will take place a year later than promised in the government’s original plan, which had been to finish the move by next year.When asked about the reasons for the delay, Kim mentioned the bankruptcy of Keangnam Enterprises. “With Keangnam Enterprises entering receivership and the former chairman Sung Wan-jong committing suicide [due to scandal], a number of construction projects were halted, and we had to go through a new round of bidding,” Kim said. [Hankyoreh]
Here is the latest on the protests outside of the Korea Training Center. Basically the protesters want to get compensation money for the noise from the range. If the US pays compensation will people living near Nightmare Range going to be the next to complain about noise and want compensation as well? What about people who live near US air bases, should they be compensated as well for noise? What gets me is how this is framed as a US military problem when the ROK military uses the KTC as well. I have never heard of Koreans protesting against ROK military noise? It would be an interesting fact to know if the ROK military has ever paid out compensation money for noise.
At sunset on Oct. 28, a group of South Koreans gathered outside the gates of Rodriguez Live Fire Complex at Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, some 24 kilometers from the heavily guarded demilitarized zone.
The numbers swelled into the hundreds, with the mostly middle-aged crowd from adjacent villages starting bonfires, singing songs and watching live dance performances. However, despite the seemingly festive atmosphere, hostility could be felt as villagers were there to hold a rally, calling for an end to what they alleged was excessive noise and danger from the U.S. military complex.
“I came here because I’m a resident here. The kids are so scared (because of the noise from gunshots), they keep waking up at night. I wish the noise could just go away,” said Lim Ga-young, a Vietnamese-Korean mother who accompanied her three children and mother-in-law to the rally.
Just like Lim and hundreds of people who gathered to seek compensation for decades of “living in fear,” villagers from near the U.S. shooting range in Pocheon, including in Yeongpyeong-ri and Yamae-ri, have complained about the noise and flying bullets from military shooting drills for over half a century.
The Rodriquez range, just a stone’s throw from North Korea, carries out live-fire exercises, including the annual Foal Eagle war games jointly conducted by the South Korean and U.S. military.
But flexing the allies’ muscles against the communist neighbor ― which remains technically at war with the South since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an cease-fire and not a treaty ― appears to have had unintentional negative repercussions on the well-being of the villagers.
“Living in this area, we are paying a hefty price because of the environment. Some even had to undergo surgeries for health problems. But there has hardly been any real probe or measures taken for us. They just don’t care, that’s why we decided to take the matter into our own hands,” said 62-year-old Lee Eung-soo.
“Decades have passed, but nothing has changed,” said Lee, who has lived in Pocheon for 60 years and works as a barber in his village. “It is hard for me to move because my entire livelihood is based in the city.” [Korea Herald]
USFK personnel looking to get a phone through a Korean telecom company will no longer receive the same subsidies that Korean consumers receive unless they remain in country at least two years:
The South Korean government has ruled that cellphone subsidies given to thousands of U.S. servicemembers stationed there on short tours were illegal, officials said Tuesday.
The Korean Communications Commission fined LG U Plus 186 million won (about $161,000) for violating the country’s Mobile Distribution Law, which bars handset subsidies for customers committed to anything less than a 24-month contract.
Thousands of U.S. servicemembers in South Korea are stationed there on one-year tours — particularly at bases north of Seoul where 2nd Infantry Division soldiers often serve unaccompanied.
LG U Plus counts about 7,200 U.S. Forces Korea servicemembers, civilians and others as subscribers, according to a KCC official who spoke with Stars and Stripes on Tuesday. [Stars & Stripes]
Via a reader tip comes this sad news that two Soldiers from the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade were killed in a helicopter crash near Wonju:
Firefighters search through debris of a crashed U.S. helicopter on a road in the city of Wonju, South Korea, on Monday. YONHAP via AFP – Getty Images
A U.S. military helicopter crashed in South Korea during a routine training mission Monday, killing both American pilots on board, the U.S. Army and South Korean police said.
The AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed on a road in Wonju, about 80 miles east of Seoul, a Wonju police officer said.
Two bodies recovered from the helicopter were severely damaged and officials couldn’t immediately confirm their identities. There were no reports of casualties on the ground.
The U.S. Army in South Korea later confirmed the crash, saying the cause of the accident was under investigation. [Fox News]
You can read more at the link, but condolences to the families of the pilots after this tragic crash.
I wonder if the Korean National Police requested this or is something USFK has been pushing to do? Regardless I am always uneasy with pushing personnel in uniform to patrol Korean neighborhoods, especially a college district. It just helps to legitimize all the leftist propaganda in South Korea about USFK being an occupying force:
U.S. Forces Korea and Seoul police began joint patrols of the popular Hongdae neighborhood over the Halloween weekend and will continue them through the end of the year, officials said Wednesday.
Although Seoul police haven’t released reports of significant incidents involving USFK personnel recently, Hongdae has been the scene of multiple, high-profile arrests over the past decade.
The neighborhood includes a large college student population and several bars and clubs.
Most personnel in South Korea are law-abiding, but such patrols are an additional prevention measure against misconduct, USFK officials said. [Stars & Stripes]
A united group of villagers scuffles with police in front of the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex, a U.S. military firing range, in Pocheon, north of Seoul, on Oct. 28, 2015, as they attempt to storm the range in protest of stray bullets from the range. The range, about 24 kilometers south of the tensely guarded Demilitarized Zone, has been a source of grievances for the residents of neighboring towns following a series of ricochets that have come out of the firing range and landed in residential areas. (Yonhap)
US and ROK military forces need live fire training to maintain readiness and there is no where in Korea to do this as well as Rodriguez Range. I look at this as I would an airport. People need airports just like the military needs a live fire range. Should airports be closed as well because of noise and the remote chance of a crash? How come I have the feeling this has a lot to do with money?
A united group of villagers set fire to bundles of straw near the U.S. military firing range in Pocheon on Wednesday in protest against stray bullets from the range.
The Rodriguez Live Fire Complex, about 24 kilometers south of the tensely-guarded demilitarized zone, has been a source of grievances to the residents of neighboring towns following a series of ricochets that have come out of the firing range and landed on residential areas.
Most recently in October, a 105-millimeter anti-tank shell flew from the shooting range before ricocheting off a house in a neighborhood and landed on a farm.
Earlier that month, a practice projectile was found in a pine field following three similar cases of ricochets in proceeding months.
“Day and night, the sounds of firing never cease in Pocheon, the home to dozens of military bases, camps, a military airfield, ammunition dumps and the Eighth U.S. Army’s Youngpyoung (Rodriguez) firing range as well as the South Korean Army’s ranges,” the villagers’ committee on the ricochet issue said in protest.
The residents near the range started to desert their hometown in fear of stray bullets, they claimed in the protest rally near the U.S. military range. [Korea Herald]
Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, U.S. Forces Korea commander provides a lecture on leadership to United States Military Academy cadets during a Comparative Politics class Oct. 19. [USFK Facebook]
YONGSAN GARRISON, Republic of Korea – Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, U.S. Forces Korea commander and Col. Yancey S. Cowen, Assistant Chief of Staff J1, present Ms. Yi, Chi Yong a community relations specialist with the Korean Service Corps Employee of the Year award during the 2015 USFK Civilian Employees of the Year award ceremony October 8, 2015 at the Dragon Hill Lodge. (Photo by CPL Choi, Woo Hyuk, USFK Public Affairs)
