Category: USFK

Second Infantry Division officials plan on cracking down on dishonest housing brokers in Area 1:

More than 700 2nd ID soldiers live off post with their families in Area I; only 14 percent are on accompanied orders. The other soldiers with families are not command-sponsored families, meaning they must pay out of pocket to travel to South Korea. Since 2005, soldiers with non-command-sponsored families residing in South Korea are eligible to request an overseas housing allowance.

During the past few weeks, Area I and 2nd ID officials have taken notice of living conditions for soldiers like Tegels and have begun developing a plan to help families find better off-post housing.

They presented that plan to soldiers at a town-hall meeting Monday on Camp Red Cloud and planned another presentation at Camp Casey on Tuesday.

“We owe it to you that you live in a decent place,” 2nd ID commander Maj. Gen. James Coggin said from the audience Monday.

Real estate brokers must speak English or have co-workers who speak English and can work with soldiers. They must also be licensed, though officials said they haven’t yet looked at whether an unlicensed broker can team with a licensed broker — a common practice in South Korea.

Area I also is requiring approved brokers to provide transportation to and from bases.

That should include two or three morning trips, three or four midday trips and two to three evening trips, Area I commander Col. Larry Jackson said at the meeting.

Most apartments near 2nd Infantry Division camps are usually quite substandard and soldiers not familiar with Korea do get screwed around by the local land lords.  I hope this new licensed broker system improves things, but judging by the housing scams I have seen in areas south of 2ID that have this same type of policy, this is definitely something I would have to see to believe. 

My best advice to people looking for housing off post is to have a trusted Korean friend such as a KATUSA to go with you and help you out.  Also never go for the first place you see.  You need to spend the time to look at as many apartments as possible and then play the landlords against each other to get the best deal.  Also you need to have the housing contract translated and verified by JAG. 

When I lived off post I intentionally did not live in an apartment that was near the camp.  Farther away from a camp you are usually better the apartments are and more trustworthy the landlords because they are not used to dealing with US soldiers and do not play the various scam games that landlords near the US camps like to play.  I just had to take a jog every morning to get to work which is no big deal since I had PT every morning anyway. 

I lived in a high rise apartment in Uijongbu that was only four years old that had three bedrooms, two bathrooms for $700 bucks a month.  I did have to buy a refrigerator and a washing machine.  At least for Uijongbu this kind of gives people an idea of housing prices available off post.  You should not be paying anymore that $700 bucks and when I left the apartment I had no issues at all.  Often landlords will try and scam soldiers who are renting by keeping deposits or charging secret fees among a host of other scams they like to play. 

I had no issues at all when I left and I hope the new licensed broker system does the same thing for all soldiers living off post in 2ID, but like I said before I have to see it to believe it. 

It is going to be interesting to see how well this is implemented:

Beginning Oct. 1, U.S. Forces Korea will require South Koreans to prove they are part of the Good Neighbor Program to renew their guest passes to U.S. military bases.

Approximately 5,100 South Korean guest pass holders will be affected by the peninsula-wide change, which is designed to increase security and eliminate the practice of “buying” passes.

“Our old practice allowed anyone who was a member of a recognized friendship organization to gain access to USFK bases. In some cases, the pass holder was merely someone buying base access through the payment of (an organization’s) membership,” a statement on the policy changes said.

Under the current policy, South Korean organizations can submit the names of members who do community relations work on base and, with military approval, get yearlong passes that allow them to enter bases unescorted.

The new command policy will require South Koreans to document their work in USFK’s Good Neighbor Program and require them to have higher-ranking U.S. military sponsors who know them personally.

Passes will be called “Good Neighbor passes” instead of guest passes.

How come I have the feeling that the slot machines and golf courses will still be filled with Korean civilains?  However, instead of being part of a "friendship organization" they will be considered "Good Neighbors". 

The Stars & Stripes have given an update today on the case of the pissed off Colonel’s wife:

The family’s attorneys law firm failed to show up at a July 22 court session in front of Judge Dang U-jeung just days after the Gerke family left the peninsula.

Lee Won-gyun, chief of the firm representing the Gerkes, said a scheduling mix-up was the reason no one from his firm appeared in court. The judge set the next session for Sept. 4.

Lee said the family would have settled for the $4,000 — but that the business center decided not to cooperate.

Business center spokesman Jimmy Park said last week that the business wasn’t sure if they would settle because the last time he saw Catherine Gerke, she was sprawled out on the floor of the center screaming that “she wanted $20,000 or $30,000.”

During the July court appearance, Park blasted the woman’s actions to the judge, who ordered Park to put his complaints in writing to the court.

Park said the business center is considering countersuing the family for Catherine’s behavior, which he believes made customers uncomfortable about using the business center.

“She’s just doing ridiculous things to hurt us every way she can,” Park said.

Where have I seen people rolling on the ground, crying, and protesting before?  It seems like Mrs. Gerke has spent to much time in Korea. Joking aside there has to be more to this story because Mrs. Gerke has vowed to fight on against the travel company for the $12,000 bucks she says she is owed even though she spent only $5,527 for the upgraded ticket.  Ridiculous case, but hey it makes great blogging material. 🙂

The 2nd Infantry Divison, USFK lone combat unit in Korea is composed of two main hubs. The first hub are the camps located in the Uijongbu area just north of Seoul. Uijongbu is home to logistical, communications, and command & control units while the city of Dongducheon located 20 kilometers north of Uijongbu on Highway 3, is home to the division’s combat arms units. The division’s infantry, armor, engineer, and artillery units are all located in the Dongducheon area:

Camp Kwangsa-ri
The first camp in the Casey area is called Camp Kwangsa-ri, which is located halfway between Dongducheon and Uijongbu. The camp serves as a ammunition storage facility for the 2ID and is only staffed with a handful ordinance soldiers, a few American civilian workers, many Korean workers, and a ROK Army unit. I have been to Camp Kwangsa-ri more times than I care to remember handling ammunition issues, but the biggest story to ever come out of this camp was when a corruption scandal was uncovered on the camp in 2005 involving a Korean worker named Mr. Kim who was stealing expended ammunistion brass from the camp to resell to a private company. Mr. Kim made $300,000 from the scam and is still at large to this day.

Dongducheon
Just of the road from Camp Kwangsa-ri is the city of Dongducheon. Dongducheon by Korean standards is considered a backwater city even though it has a population of nearly 80,000 people. The city also has long had a seedy reputation due to being home to a large number of US military camps over the years:

The city and especially Camp Casey and Hovey are ringed with steep mountains including the popular local mountain Soyosan that makes up the northern boundary of Camp Casey. A river runs through the center of the city and is known to flood from time to time. In 1997 the entire Dongducheon “ville” area was underwater during the worst flood in recent memory.

Most people in the city either directly or indirectly are dependent on the USFK presence for their livelihood. However, factories staffed with third world laborers continue to sprout up in the area to contribute to the local economy as well. The mixture of Koreans, third world laborers, and US soldiers does give the city a vibe very different from everywhere else in Korea.

Camp Casey
The biggest camp by far in Dongducheon is Camp Casey:

The camp was named in 1952 after Major Hugh Casey who was an engineer officer that was awared the Distinguished Service Cross for combat actions during the evacuation of Hungnam, North Korea. Casey would later die in December 1951 when the light observer plane he was flying in was shot down by ground fire and crashed on a small hill in the middle of present day Camp Casey. This hill to this day is marked by a large white cross that can be seen from just about anywhere on Camp Casey.

Camp Casey is a large sprawling base located farther north than any other major US military camp in Korea. The camp is only 15 miles straight line distance from the DMZ that separates the two Koreas. Camp Casey is so close to the DMZ you would think it would be quite a spartan installation. That is not the case, as the camp has every facility any other US Army installation has:

It has numerous eating establishments both fast food and sit down restaurants. There are two different Burger King locations, a Popeye’s Chicken, Dunkin Donuts, Anthony’s Pizza, and a Taco Bell. The Primo’s restaurant has a really good lunch buffet that is worth checking out as well.

The largest PX in 2ID can be found here to buy all the latest products and a decent commissary that includes most the foods you would find in the states. The camp also has a nice bookstore and sports shop. The PX also has a number of Korean stores where you can buy typical Korean products, but they are quite expensive compared to buying the same items off post.

Camp Casey is filled with athletic facilities. There are gyms and weight rooms are spread out all over the camp plus numerous football and softball fields are available as well. Throughout the year there are numerous athletics leagues running that encompasses every major sport played in the US. The competition in these leagues is usually very competitive because most soldiers are in Korea away from their families for a year and thus focus much on sports to keep them busy.

The camp also has plenty of entertainment options. There are multiple bars on the camp and a dance club located in Primo’s. Near the PX there is also a nice bowling alley for the bowlers out there. The golf course is quite popular and usually filled unsurprisingly with Korean golfers.

Some of the major units on Camp Casey include Taskforce 1-72 Armor, 2-9 Infantry, 302nd Brigade Support Battalion, 1-38 Field Artillery, & 6-37 Field Artillery.

Golsandong
An unusual fact about Camp Casey is that it actually contains its own Korean village called Golsandong:

The village is actually spread out among the hills to the east of Camp Casey and contains 48 homes with 116 residents:

These homes can only be reached by driving through Camp Casey. So if you are stationed on Camp Casey and see some Koreans driving farming equipment on post, now you know why.

Camp Hovey
Located adjacent to Camp Casey is the medium sized installation of Camp Hovey.

The camp is named after Master Sergeant Howard Hovey who ended up being one of the last Americans to die during the Korean War during the battle of Pork Chop Hill in July 1953. For his heroic actions defending the hill from the massive Chinese offensive he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

MSG Howard Hovey

Camp Hovey has plenty of facilities to include a restaurant and club, a video store, gymnasium, and sports field. One minus about Camp Hovey is the distance from the PX and commissary on Camp Casey. It is about a 20 minute bus ride from Hovey to reach the PX.

The front gate of the camp is bordered by the sleazy and run down ville of Toko-ri:

You can read more about Teokgeo-ri at the below link:

• A Profile of Korea’s Teokgeo-ri Ville

Some of the major units on Camp Hovey includes 1-15 Field Artillery, 4-7 US Cavalry, & 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion.

Camp Mobile
Located right across Highway 3 from Camp Casey is small installation Camp Mobile:

Camp Mobile was known for decades by 2ID soldiers as the “Turtle Farm” because it was the location of the 2ID Replacement Company. The new soldiers that arrived at Camp Mobile were known as “turtles” because they had so long to go before their tour in Korea would be complete. Since the Replacement Company was on the camp the Central Issue Facility (CIF) was established on Camp Mobile to field gear to all the new soldiers.

I remember my first time pulling into Camp Mobile. I had been on a bus from Kimpo Airport and pulled into this camp that reminded me more of a concentration camp than a military installation due to the drab buildings, quonset huts, and barbed wire. This place was not a welcoming site to anyone pulling into 2ID for the first time. Fortunately the Replacement Company was moved to the much more hospitable Camp Stanley in Uijongbu. The company is now known as the Warrior Readiness Company.

Camp Mobile also has an air strip on it that is used for helicopter landings as well as UAV operations. The only thing I remember more than arriving to the “turtle farm” for the first time was waiting in the freezing cold of February for four hours on the air strip to do an air assault training operation with the 1-503 Infantry. We absolutely froze waiting for the helicopters that would never seen to show up. Finally we were told it was to cold and the visibility to poor for the helicopters to come. There was some seriously pissed off infantrymen that day.

Camp Nimble
Just down the road from both Camp Casey and Camp Mobile is the now vacated Camp Nimble:

Camp Nimble before closing, was home to two companies from the 702nd MSB. These two companies contained the military semi-trucks used to transport cargo and equipment for the division. This may be why it was named Camp Nimble:

I’m sure the camp had its good points, but to me Camp Nimble never seemed like a good place to be stationed and the roads leading from the camp were quite narrow and definitely a traffic hazard for military vehicles trying to drive through there. Fortunately this camp has finally been closed down.

Camp Castle
Just north of Camp Casey is the small installation of Camp Castle. Camp Castle for decades was home to the engineers units thus the reason for the name of Camp Castle. The engineers moved off the camp in 2004 and has been occupied by the 702nd Brigade Support Battalion since:

Something unusual about this camp is that the motorpool is located on the opposite side of Highway 3 from the rest of the camp. The motorpool is accessed by a pedestrian overpass.

Camp Castle is further divided with a small warehouse located just north of Camp Castle’s main post which is known as Camp Castle North:

The warehouse on Camp Castle North is used by the division to turn in old equipment to the support battalion unit that operates the warehouse. This is another place I have spent way to much time at before.

Overall, the Camp Casey area is not a bad posting considering how close to freedom’s frontier one is stationed. Combined the camps have just about every facility you could expect on any other US military installation and transportation to and from the post continues to improve, especially with the opening of the new subway station in Dongducheon. So if you get stationed in the Camp Casey area it is not the end of the world and it is not that bad of a place. Like most things in Korea, it is all what you make of it.

Note: You can read more from the ROK Drop featured series “A Profile of USFK Bases” at the below link:

Located just north of Seoul and about an hour south of Dongducheon, is the suburban city of Uijongbu:

Besides being nationally famous for serving the best budaechigae in the country the city is also home to soldiers of the Second Infantry Division. Below is a graphic of the locations of current and former USFK camps in Uijongbu:

Out of all of these camps only two remain operational today, Camp Red Cloud in the city’s northwest and Camp Stanley to the city’s southeast. All of the remaining camps have been closed since 2005 as part of USFK’s transformation program to reduce the force footprint in Korea. If you look at the map all of these camps used to be on the outskirts of the old city of Uijongbu. However, as Korea prospered economically so did Uijongbu and the camps were completely swallowed up by the surrounding city.

The urban density of Uijongbu played a part in the decision to reduce soldiers and consolidate camps in Uijongbu. After a number of these camps were closed down the anti-US groups started protesting that these camps were polluted wastelands that were a danger to the surrounding Korean community. During a recent visit to Uijongbu, I decided to see what the current status of the camps really is.

The first camp I started at was Camp Red Cloud:

Camp Red Cloud (CRC) is the home to the headquarters of the 2nd Infantry Division and a few miscellaneous units associated with the division headquarters. Here is a picture of the camp from a nearby mountain:

The camp’s namesake is Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud, a Winnebago Indian from Wisconsin that was post-humanously awarded the Medal of Honor during the Korean War. The camp is quite nice and has a busy golf course that is usually over flowing with Korean golfers. Here is a picture of the division headquarters:

You can view more pictures of CRC at the below link:

• A Profile of Camp Red Cloud, Korea

From CRC I crossed the busy highway in front of the camp and walked down the road through the small “ville” in front of CRC and towards Camp La Guardia. The ville area in front of CRC is not really your typical soldier “ville” in Korea and is more of what you see in a typical Korean neighborhood. Camp La Guardia like many 2ID camps closed down in 2005. The camp is actually built around an old airstrip that originally gave the camp it’s name by being named after La Guardia Airport in New York. Before closing down, Camp La Guardia served as the home for an engineer bridging company because the runway provided plenty of room to park the large engineer equipment. The engineers are long gone and when I approached the front gate I noticed a ROK Army soldier guarding the gate. I asked him if I can take a picture of the camp from inside the gate and he would not let me. So I took this picture later on in the day from Cheonbosan Mountain that overlooks Uijongbu:

From La Guardia I walked down to the Uijongbu train station which sits adjacent to Camp Falling Water. Camp Falling Water used to serve as the home for the Department of Public Works (DPW). DPW is staffed with Korean workers that are responsible for maintenance operations on the USFK camps. Camp Falling Water is a very small camp, more like a collection of warehouses, that was closed down in 2005 as well.

From the train station I caught a bus to Camp Kyle that sits on the northeast side of the city. The camp is named after 2nd Lieutenant Darwin Kyle who was post-humanously awarded the Medal of Honor during the Korean War. This camp was also closed in 2005 and was home to a maintenance company and a quartermaster company when it closed. At the camp’s entrance I once again talked to a couple of ROK Army guards that told me I could not take pictures of the camp because it was Top Secret. For being some place so Top Secret it sure was easy to get a picture by walking over to the nearby pedestrian overpass and taking a picture of the camp from up there:

No that is not a massive oil slick on the camp as the anti-US groups would have you believe, but just water from an earlier rain shower. I did see some ROK Army trucks moving around the camp, but besides that no activity at all. From Camp Kyle I walked along the side of the camp and followed a trail that leads up Cheonbo Mountain behind the camp and took this overhead view of the camp:

Notice that some how all these green trees are some how growing on this polluted USFK camp. From up on the mountain I could also see Camp Essayons which lies on the western slope of the mountain:

Camp Essayons many years ago was once home to an engineer unit that named the camp after the Corps of Engineers motto of Essayons, which is French for “Let Us Try”. Camp Essayons was last home to a military intelligence battalion before the camp also closed down in 2005 as part of the USFK transformation.

From the very top of the mountain I could see Camp Stanley as well, that lies to the city’s southeast on the slopes of Mt. Surak:

Camp Stanley is named after Colonel Thomas Stanley who was killed in a vehicle accident in Italy in 1944 during World War II.

Camp Stanley is currently still open and is mainly a logistical base for the 2nd Infantry Division. Camp Stanley has actually escaped being surrounded by urban sprawl due to the fact that is located right next to a Korean prison and it’s adjacent rice paddies. The Korean prison is the building you see above with the blue roof. From Camp Stanley you can sometimes hear the prisoners singing songs and cadence from the prison. You can often see them working in the prison’s rice paddies as well. The picture below is of Camp Stanley as viewed from Surak Mountain:

Across the street from Camp Stanley you can see the rice paddies the prisoners work in that helps give the area a distinct aroma during the summer months. The quality of life on Camp Stanley greatly improved two years ago with the opening of the new PX on the camp:

Camp Stanley is also home to the only real soldier “ville” in Uijongbu where one can find the typical juicy bars, pawn shops, chicken on a stick shacks, counterfeit clothing stores, coin & plaque shops, and other typical staples of a “ville” in Korea:

You can read more about Camp Stanley at the below link:

• A Profile of Camp Stanley, South Korea

Finally, from Cheonbo Mountain I had a bird’s eye view over tiny Camp Sears:

Camp Sears was once home to a headquarters battery of a short-range air defense battalion. The Camp was named after Sergeant First Class Jerome Sears who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross during the Korean War. The camp closed as well in 2005. While walking down the mountain towards the camp I could see that some how locals were growing crops along the polluted fence line of this USFK Camp:

Quite shocking that locals would be willing to eat crops grown in such polluted soil. I then walked to the front gate of the camp and found no one guarding the camp and was able to take this picture of the front of the camp:

Once again the oasis of green growing in the middle of the dense urban jungle of Uijongbu is quite striking. The fact is that these USFK camps are much cleaner than an equivalent ROK Army base that has been open for 50 years. The camps in general are much cleaner than surrounding communities as well. The camps have plenty of trees and open space that could be turned into useful parks and facilities for the city of Uijongbu. The local government had big plans to turn the camps into parks and administrative centers for the city. Camp La Guardia and Camp Falling Water would have been an excellent locations to turn into a large city park in the section of the city in desperate need of some green space.

However, as usual the outside anti-US groups ruined things for the surrounding community by pushing their bogus pollution agenda. Because of the anti-US groups the hand over of the land was delayed for two years and when the camps were finally handed over, the land was given to the ROK Army instead of the local government. Many people I know in Uijongbu are very upset by the interference of the anti-US groups.

If anti-US groups like Green Korea really cared about the environment, instead of making bogus camp pollution claims, they should be complaining that USFK should clean the graffiti on Cheonbo Mountain overlooking Uijongbu. This faded unit crest is of the old 702nd MSB unit that was stationed at Camp Sears more than a decade ago:

The mountain also has other smaller patches of graffiti from other units as well. Now this is something that I can legitimately see people complaining to USFK to clean up, however Green Korea is silent. It is because the anti-US groups like Green Korea do not care about the environment and instead were formed to promote an anti-USFK agenda that has since been linked to a North Korean spy ring. Creating as many obstacles as possible to prevent the USFK transformation was the goal of Green Korea and their North Korean puppet masters, not any concern about the environment. So in the end the USFK transformation happened anyway and the only people that lost out due to the anti-US groups were the people of Uijongbu.

If you have an interesting or funny veteran story from your time in Korea I would love to hear it. If it is a good story I am willing to publish it here on the ROK Drop. It doesn’t matter what decade you served just as long as it is interesting or funny. If you have a story to share you can e-mail the story to me.

Thanks for reading the ROK Drop.

Note: You can read more from the ROK Drop featured series “A Profile of USFK Bases” at the below link:

This is a story you need to read in full but basically the wife of Colonel Thompson Gerke, the former USFK deputy commander of Marine forces on the peninsula, launched a lawsuit against a Yongsan travel agent because she had to fly business class instead of first class.  She says the agent owes here $12,000 because she had to pay the extra amount of money to upgrade at the airport while the agent offered to pay $5,527 which is what she actually spent on an upgrade since she only upgraded one way. 

She claims she has a back problem and has to fly only in first class because of her back problem.  I found this to be strange behavior if you have a back problem:

Park said the family won’t take anything less than $11,054 and that Catherine created a scene in his store after the last court session. Park said she was lying on the floor of his shop screaming disparaging remarks about his business in front of other customers and he was forced to call the military police.

I don’t know the full story and maybe there is more to this, but judging by this Stars and Stripes article the agent offering to pay $5,527 seems like a fair settlement.  The colonel and his wife have some responsibility in this because they should have checked their tickets or their receipt to verify what section they were sitting in before they even went to the airport.  The fact that Ms. Gerke lodged complaints throughout Eighth Army as well as even writing her Congressman to launch a Congressional inquiry, sounds more like someone thinking they wear their husband’s rank instead of just being a military wife. 

You can read more over at Lost Nomad.

Watch out English teachers because you may soon lose your monopoly on the girls at Hongdae if USFK Command Sergeant Major Barry Wheeler has his way:

U.S. Forces Korea’s top enlisted soldier said Wednesday that he will ask the command about allowing members of the U.S. military community to visit Seoul’s Hongdae neighborhood again.

Command Sgt. Maj. Barry Wheeler made the comments on an American Forces Network broadcast Wednesday morning after an anonymous soldier called the station expressing frustration that the popular party area remains off-limits at night to U.S. troops.

USFK commander Gen. B.B. Bell banned his personnel from entering the neighborhood between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. for “force protection” concerns in February after a U.S. soldier brutally raped a 67-year-old woman in the neighborhood on Jan. 14.

Pvt. Geronimo Ramirez later was sentenced to four years in prison by a South Korean court.

“I’m going to ask them to reconsider (the ban), because maybe enough time has gone by,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler cautioned that command may keep Hongdae off-limits anyway.

Which is probably what the command probably will do.  CSM Wheeler was probably just being diplomatic when faced with a tough question.  The biggest problem with Hongdae is that alcohol, GIs, Korean college students, xenophobia, and a hostile media do not mix well.  The Great Shinchon Massacre is the greatest example of this.

Really nothing to juicy in this Yonhap interview of the Korean USFK media relations officer known as the "Godfather" until the subject turned to the 2002 Armored Vehicle accident:

He presented as an example the two South Korean schoolgirls crushed by a U.S. armored vehicle in 2002.

"Local media didn’t pay attention to the U.S. soldiers’ sorrow and mourning for the tragic incident, while focusing on the public uproar over the U.S. troops," he said. "Sometimes, I think Korean people view USFK-related incidents too emotionally."

If only more people in the Korean government and media would speak up like this and stand up to the anti-US hate groups that often spread disinformation and out right lies to the Korean public. 

Now even the Chosun Ilbo has picked up on the exploits of the Subway Idiots and is currently the second most viewed story on the site. 

More information about the shoplifting Filipino ambassador has been released and needless to say this whole episode gets more and more interesting with every new release of information:

Kasammako claims to have received direct information from individuals concerned in the incident, including security officers who were on duty at the Post Exchange store at the U.S. Army Yongsan garrison on Nov. 28, the day of the alleged incident.

"The security officers recount that a security camera clearly shows Ambassador Castrence took the stolen items," the statement reads. It goes on to say that the wife of a senior U.S. officer in charge of the commissary facilities confirmed the details of the incident.

According to Mark Padlan, a journalist and Kasammako executive committee member who is currently in Manila, the manager of the PX, knowing that Castrence is a diplomat, approached her in a bid to resolve the matter discreetly so as to avoid any embarrassment.

"In response," the press release said, "Castrence told the manager she wanted to smoke a cigarette first before they talk. In the act of taking and lighting the cigarette out of her bag, she dropped the stolen items and kicked them back inside the PX shop. She then tried to deny any wrongdoing."

The embassy confirmed that the ambassador is a smoker but said these allegations are now "really going over the top."

Ambassador Castrence told The Korea Herald, "I was actually the one who volunteered to let them search my bag." She added that she had bought an ice cream at the counter near the check-out and wanted to go outside and eat it because it was beginning to melt.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out, but never the less, talk about a black eye for the Filipino Embassy in Seoul.