Category: USFK

This is great news for all the soldiers living on Camp Casey:

Getting to Seoul became a lot easier in the past few months for many Area I soldiers.

Unable to drive their own vehicles, soldiers at Dongducheon bases were once reliant on buses to Yongsan Garrison or had to transfer from trains or buses to Uijeongbu before finding the subway.

And farther south at Camp Red Cloud, servicemembers no longer have to take an expensive taxi ride or long bus trip through downtown Uijeongbu traffic to get to the station.

The Seoul Metro system’s Number One line extension opened in December and now allows servicemembers to get to popular destinations like Itaewon for as little as 1,100 won, or about $1.20, each way.

In the past soldiers at Camp Casey had to take a train from usually Dongan Station outside Gate 2 that left once an hour to reach Uijongbu.  The train cost about $2 to get to Uijongbu on.  At Uijongbu Station you had to transfer over to the subway and buy another ticket to get to Itaewon which cost about $1.50.  With the completion of the subway line to Dongducheon soldiers will save time and money whenever they travel to Seoul which I think is great. 

The subway expansion has actually been under construction for about the past 10 years.  Every time I came back to Korea I always found it interesting to watch first hand the slow, but steady progress of the subway expansion between Uijongbu and Dongducheon.  What was additionally interesting was the fact that large portions of Dongducheon including parts of the ville in front of Camp Casey, had to be knocked down to make way for the subway.  This map should give you an idea of how many buildings were impacted by the subway expansion:

You can see the subway line runs right through the center of the city.  This picture should give you an idea of how densely populated Dongducheon is:

During the whole time homes and businesses were being knocked down to make way for the subway expansion not once did I see or hear of any civic groups protesting the forced relocation of these homes and businesses.  However, when less people are forced to move due to the Camp Humphreys expansion in Pyeongtaek suddenly all these civic groups appear demanding that the government stop the forced relocation of the farmers in the Daechu-ri village who don’t want to move. 

Having watched people in forced to move due to a subway expansion I have always considered the protesters outside Camp Humphreys total hypocrites.  People in Korea aren’t just forced to move to make way for subways either.  I have seen people forced to relocated due to highways and new shopping centers as well and not once did I see or hear of these civic groups outside of Camp Humphreys protesting them.  The truth is that the Camp Humphreys protester don’t care about the fact that people are forced to move due to imminent domain because if they did there are a whole lot of bigger imminent cases out there than Camp Humphreys.  Their whole motivation is pushing their anti-US agenda and the farmers of Daechu-ri are just pawns in their game to bash USFK. 

So don’t expect any protesters for the opening of this subway line, but don’t expect them to go away outside Camp Humphreys. 

You can read more over at Lost Nomad.

Robert Neff from the Marmot’s Hole has posted an interesting article in the Korea Times about the 1982 defection of PFC Joseph White to North Korea.  PFC White would remain in North Korea for only three more years until he supposedly died while drowning in a river.  The reason for PFC White’s defection has been a matter of controversy for years.

Here is the theory from the article that I would put money on:

There is another theory. One American soldier claims that White fell in love with a North Korean agent in a club in the village of Bongilchon and that she disappeared on the same day White did. Allegedly she either guided him to the North Korean positions or she met him in the North.

PFC White was an introvert and when he enlisted in the military and was posted in Korea; he became a big fan of the ville culture.  PFC White probably never had such attention showered on from women before and enjoyed the attention from the Korean women in the ville so much that he even wrote letters home to his mom about it.  I don’t think it is too far fetched of an idea that a woman is the reason he defected.

I have seen soldiers do many stupid and criminal things due to juicy girls in the ville, so the possibility that PFC White defected due to juicy girl is definitely plausible to me.  Anyway interesting read and I encourage everyone to check it out.

Note: You can read more GI Flashbacks articles by clicking on the below link: 

UPDATE: News of the policy has hit the Stars and Stripes now. Here are some thoughts from some of the soldiers interviewed:

I think its going to be bad for morale, said Pfc. Michael Stafford, who says he does not drink alcohol. Its stressful out here. We’re away from everything and people want to go out and have a good time.

Pfc. Kolubah Beyan, of 2nd ID’s headquarters company, said the new policy is much needed.

However, it always comes down to a person’s responsibility, said Beyan, a self-described infrequent drinker.

How well the policy works will depend on how it is implemented, said Sgt. Bobby Cumby of 2nd ID’s Special Troops Battalion.

It could encourage soldiers to drink less or could encourage them to stay off-post later for fear of having their blood alcohol level tested when they return, he said.

It has its pluses and minuses, Cumby said. Hopefully it will take down the number of incidents, but it kind of hurts the people who haven’t been doing anything wrong.

Over at Lost Nomad he is “speechless” over the latest only in Korea story.

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On the 2ID webpage the new alcohol consumption policy letter can be downloaded from here (HT: reader). Here are some of the key excerpts from the policy letter:

I find it interesting that TDY personnel don’t have to abide by this policy. I guess that means all the guys on TDY from the states for UFL can still go have a good time out in the ville while the soldiers permanently stationed in 2ID can’t be trusted too. Here is the alleged reason for the new BAC policy:

Nobody is going to buy the “Fight to Night” excuse that has been used for years for every mass punishment policy brought down on 2ID soldiers due to the actions of a few. A few years back E-6s and below who were stationed at Yongsan and other camps south of Seoul were banned from being able to drive a privately owned vehicle due to an increase in drunk driving incidents. At least when that policy was implemented the statistics were looked at and a policy was put in place that focused on the people committing the incidents, E6s and below. If the rise in alcohol related incidents in 2ID is because of underage drinking why isn’t a policy created that focuses on them?

Anyway to enforce this policy a lot of mandatory actions are being brought down on the company commanders to do things like mandatory health and welfare inspections of the barracks, inspections of off post homes, checking of refrigerators for booze in the barracks, quarterly alcohol training, etc. These are all things done at the unit level any way, but now since it is considered mandatory in a policy letter by the commanding general you will see more of these actions executed more frequently so the commanders can cover themselves when an incident happens. I’m willing to bet that unit commanders would rather have no alcohol related incidents than have over half their guys fire expert on the M-16 and wearing a PT excellence badge for example. Fat and can’t shoot, no problem as long as you don’t make the blotter. That’s the new 2ID.

I find it interesting how all the responsibility for fixing the alcohol related incident problems is put on the company commanders while the senior leadership takes no responsibility on themselves to help solve the problem. The senior leadership continues to create a ville culture that promotes alcohol by allowing underage drinkers to go into establishments that push booze and prostitutes on them and then they are surprised when there are underage drinkers busted in the ville?

Here is another interesting portion of the policy:

Commanders even before this policy could direct soldiers to take a command directed blood alcohol test. This is usually what is done to catch underage drinkers. So now the same approach is being used to catch people violating the new BAC policy. What isn’t clear in the policy is if MPs can have people take a BAC test. What will probably happen is that the MPs will pick people up who they think is above the BAC and then call the commander. I feel bad for the company commanders in 2ID. Not only are they being set up to take the blame for alcohol related incidents when they happen, but they will being getting calls all the time to come to the MP station to fill out paper work to do the command direct blood alcohol test probably on a lot of people who are not even over the limit. Than when the MPs aren’t calling him the CQ or First Sergeant will be calling him about soldiers they found that might be over .10% because if they don’t call him and the guy gets in trouble they will go down with him.

Something that wasn’t mentioned in the policy letter was the status of KATUSAs. I don’t see how this policy could apply to them when the US military UCMJ regulations don’t apply to KATUSAs. It will be interesting to see if the ROK Army will be willing to impose this on the KATUSAs or not.

This is probably the most interesting portion of the policy:

Harassment? Isn’t increased health and welfare inspections of the barracks harassment? Isn’t the MPs pulling people off the streets who they think is over .10% BAC harassment? Isn’t directing CQs to find people who might be over the BAC harassment? Let me guess, it isn’t harassment, it is “soldier care” just like this policy isn’t because of alcohol related incidents, it because the division needs to be ready to “fight tonight”, or the curfew isn’t because of blotter reports, but is for “force protection” reasons.

Soldiers aren’t stupid, but obviously some people think they are.

While out this weekend below is the card you need to carry around with you, along with a breathalyzer, a map of the off limits areas, a GPS device to make sure you don’t wander into some of the gigantic off limits areas like the Shinchon area, your warrior standard book, your battle buddy, and finally make sure you budget an extra 10,000 won to pay the extortion fare demanded by the cab drivers. It would probably be easier just to stay in the barracks at night.

Any wonder why soldiers dislike serving in 2ID?

Before going out this weekend make sure you review the latest off limits areas.  I have them broken down for you by Area.  You can download your own copy of the off limits areas from 2ID website by clicking here.  Have fun over the weekend, but obey the regulations and stay out of trouble.  There is already the new blood alcohol policy in effect, follow the off limits and curfew regulations before someone gets the bright idea to implement a new policy putting tracking devices around everyone’s ankles. 

Area 1:

Area 2:

For all the USFK personnel out there who will be affected by the Hongdae University off limits order here is a graphic of the exact area that is off limits:

Area III:

Area IV:

Area V:

Area VI:

Area VII:

The number of alcohol related incidents is on rise according to the Second Infantry Division Weekly Bulletin:

NEW ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION POLICY: New! Effective 8 FEB, the Division Commander issued a new policy on responsible alcohol consumption. It is our responsibility to assure that none of us are released from duty on 9 FEB until each of us fully understands this policy.

You won’t believe what the new policy is.  Soldiers even while off duty cannot have a blood alcohol content level above .10%.  What is behind the rise in alcohol related incidents that would cause such a drastic measure to be implemented?  Here is your answer:

DRINK RESPONSIBLY: In January 2ID passed the 100 mark for Soldiers involved in alcohol or drug-related blotters for this fiscal year. This puts us ahead of our FY06 pace, which was itself an increase over 2005. Underage drinking has been a significant contributor to this unfortunate trend. If you are under 21 — don’t drink! If you are of legal drinking age, then drink in moderation and don’t tolerate or encourage your buddy to drink who is not of legal drinking age. Every Soldier and leader has a part to play in preventing underage drinking and alcohol abuse.

So the policy to stop underage drinkers is “don’t drink!” while the strategy to stop the increase in alcohol related incidents due to the underage drinkers is to punish everyone.  Will soldiers have to carry breathalyzers with them to the ville now to test themselves after every drink?  How many good soldiers are going to get prosecuted under this policy and have their careers adversely effected because they blew a .12% BAC?  The soldiers that want to binge drink are now going to move out of the ville to avoid the breathalyzer bandits and stay out all night in other entertainment areas outside the ville where the breathalyzer bandits are not at and then just stay at hotel so the gate guards with breathalyzers don’t catch them.

Any bets if curfew violations will go up because of this policy?  I can see it now some soldier coming back from the ville worried about blowing over a .10% and instead of taking their chances with breathalyzer the soldier decides to go hide in a alley somewhere or find a hotel for the night.  In process of doing this he gets spotted by the MPs and picked up.

I have been saying this for a long time, but why do we allow underage drinkers into drinking establishments in the ville to begin with?  If it illegal for them to drink than why are underage drinkers allowed to go into a sleazy bar that pushes booze and scantily clad women on them all night?  This is a temptation that to many young soldiers cannot overcome.  If the command wants to solve the underage drinking problem all you have to do is deny the underage drinkers from entering the clubs in the ville and then anyone entering the gate underage you make them take a breathalyzer.  That prevents them from wandering to other entertainment areas outside the ville to drink and then trying to get back on post.  If the unit CQ is properly signing people out before they leave the barracks you can track if they went back into their room or not that night.  Knowing that soldiers are smarter than we give them credit for, they will try to get around this by having their buddy at CQ hook them up and sign them in for them so they can stay out all night and avoid the breathalyzer at the gate.  Do a few random 6AM formations on Friday and Saturday morning to account for everyone and you will be amazed how quickly this problem is rectified.

This leaves underage drinkers two options, drink in their rooms or get a pass from the First Sergeant to stay in a hotel for the weekend to escape the breathalyzer bandits.  If a soldier wants to drink in his room and play X-Box all night, personally I really don’t care.  A random barracks patrol roster with all your E-7s and up on it every weekend tends to keep them honest.  Something that also helps is to have designated underage rooms.  Don’t organize the barracks where you have underage and legal age drinkers mixed together.  This once again is shoving alcohol in the face of underage soldiers, especially when the legal age soldier has the fridge stocked with his beers.  I have busted underage drinkers before in the barracks by simply knocking on the door of a underage room.  The underage soldier opened the door holding a beer.  After you bust a few guys like this the underage soldiers learn to keep quiet and stay in their rooms if they are going to drink.  As far as underage guys going on pass this is where the First Sergeant needs to use a lot of discretion and only put underage people on pass that he/she trusts will not get into trouble.

Is this plan full proof and will stop all incidents?  No it won’t, but I am certain my suggestions would bring down the number of underage drinkers and it focuses solely on the group that is causing the problems, the underage drinkers.  No where in my suggestions are all the soldiers in the division punished for the actions of a few.  It is easy just to implement a blanket policy on everyone and be done it, especially with all the outside pressure I’m sure the 2ID Commanding General is getting hit with right now to cut down alcohol related incidents, but soldiers appreciate creative leadership that focuses on solving a problem with minimum impact on everyone else.

In the years I have been following USFK issues it seems like every time a new general comes in they face the same problem the commander before them faced and the new general issues blanket policies similar to the last guy that didn’t solve the problem then and won’t solve the problem now.  Former 2ID commanders General Honore, Wood, Higgins, and now Coggin have all had their fair share of alcohol related incidents and underage drinkers.  Mass punishment policies that have a short term impact that looks good on Powerpoint slides are always implemented, but in the long run the same issues will persist and rise again at the expense of the morale of all the soldiers in Korea.

Any bets that the next 2ID commander will be facing these same problems when he takes over?  It seems nothing ever changes except the name of the commanding general.

The Assignment Incentive Program (AIP) more commonly known as the Avoid Iraq Program is finally getting a much needed change:

Army officials are considering changes to an incentive program that rewards soldiers who extend their tours in South Korea, the senior enlisted soldier said Wednesday during a monthly American Forces Network radio call-in program.

While “nothing is in print” yet, U.S. Forces Korea Command Sgt. Maj. Barry Wheeler said he suspects modifications to the Assignment Incentive Pay program are on the way. The program pays soldiers $300 extra per month if they extend for a year and $400 extra a month if they extend for two years.

One thought is that soldiers who haven’t deployed could be prevented from taking the 24-month extension option, Wheeler said.

“If you haven’t been on a deployment, it could be that you’re limited to (one additional) 12-month tour” in South Korea, he said. He said he couldn’t provide full details Wednesday because guessing a “final outcome would be pure speculation.”

This clause should have been implemented from the start of the program, but credit CSM Wheeler for finally implementing this much needed fix.  Also CSM Wheeler had this to say about taxi cab related incidents:

A South Korean law targeted to those who attack public transportation drivers: “There is no excuse for assaulting someone providing service to you,” Wheeler said. “It’s not OK … that’s the bottom line.” He said South Korea has stiffened the penalties for those found guilty of assaulting these workers. Offenders face a minimum three-year jail sentence or $20,000 fine.

Several U.S. troops have found themselves in the South Korean court system for attacking taxi drivers in recent months. “It’s unmilitary and it’s undisciplined,” Wheeler said. But those who break the rules will find the punishments are “very, very severe. They’re playing hardball with you,” Wheeler warned.

Wheeler is absolutely correct, taxi cab related incidents now have harsher punishments due to new laws passed by the Korean government I first reported about here.  However, I’m still waiting for a law to pass that implements harsher penalties for taxi cab drivers who overcharge GIs with outrageous cab fares.  I guess I shouldn’t hold my breath to long waiting for that to happen.

We had some hints before that USFK was not happy about the announced Camp Humphreys delay and cutting of funds by the South Korean government and finally, the USFK commander has come out fighting:

The top U.S. military commander in South Korea said Friday that he would “fight” any move to delay the much-awaited relocation of U.S. forces to a base south of Seoul.

“I am opposed to any decision to stretch this out for any reasons, whether it’s political or it’s fiscal… or whatever it is,” Gen. B.B. Bell, commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) told a news conference at his office at the Yongsan Garrison in Seoul.

He stressed that the expansion of Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 km south of Seoul, should be completed by 2008 as scheduled.

The commander was responding to media reports that the South Korean government has decided to postpone the relocation move until as late as 2013 due to a backlash by residents and financial constraints.

All I have to say is what took so long?  I’m figuring the anger had been building up inside of General Bell since the delay was first announced and had just been itching to unload on the Korean government, but has been waiting for authorization from the Pentagon.  The Pentagon recently got their Defense Secretary transition and the Iraq troop surge plan completed and now can focus some attention on Korea.  I don’t really think the relocation will be completed by 2008 but is just using this date as a starting point for negotiations.  I am willing to bet that he would accept a 2009 relocation with a simultaneous hand over of operational control to the Korean military.Â

General Bell also wanted to focus attention on USFK living conditions:

The four-star general became emotional, saying U.S. soldiers here, who now total around 30,000, badly need new facilities to live in with their families for a “normal life.”
“We hope … that this consolidation effort corrects a wrong that we have tolerated for years, and that is lousy living conditions and lousy facilities,” he said. “I don’t want my families and my service members to live in those conditions. I want them to be normal. I am fairly emotional about this.”
He added that the deadline was fast approaching and he didn’t care if the problems were political or financial, saying “I will fight this (delay),” and urging the South Korean government to show its firm commitment to the project rather than being swayed by other conditions.

I will have to assume he is talking about the conditions in 2nd Infantry Division which living conditions have improved in recent years, but still do not meet living conditions in the states and most importantly soldiers cannot receive command sponsorship to bring their families to Korea with them.  He is probably also referring to the Hanam Apartment ghetto in Seoul where some of the few soldiers stationed at Yongsan Garrison who do receive command sponsorship, live.

If you read the actual press release General Bell brings up the living condition issue mainly because he feels strongly that soldiers shouldn’t be serving one year unaccompanied tours in Korea.  He wants this to end.  He is absolutely correct on this account. In the past sucking up one year away from your family in Korea wasn’t as bad as it is now when you have so many soldiers that have already served a year or more away from their families in Iraq or Afghanistan and are then asked to go to Korea after that.  I had an E6 who was with the 101st Airborne and deployed to Afghanistan and then came back after a year in Afghanistan and then deployed to Iraq to fight Operation Iraqi Freedom with the 101st and then came back to the states again after a year in Iraq to get orders to Korea. This E6 had a wife and three kids and came to Korea extremely demoralized because his wife wanted a divorce. He eventually ate his way out of the army by becoming overweight and out of shape so he could be chaptered so he could get back home.  He loved his family more than the Army, can you blame him? Â

Unaccompanied tours in Korea for one year are becoming increasingly unbearable for military families and many are instead picking up and moving to Korea on non-command sponsored basis which means living in a Korean ghetto apartment outside a US military base subject to the many Korean landlord predators that prey on these non-command sponsored families with illegal rental contracts, over priced rental fees, unsafe housing conditions, poor water quality, and the siphoning of electricity from the family’s home to name a few common complaints.  Plus the non-command sponsored families do not receive the same level of medical care, education, and other military services compared to command sponsored family members.  Non-command sponsored family members are truly put on the back of the bus in Korea.  General Bell wants to end this segregation between non-command and command sponsored families by getting the facilities built at Camp Humphreys that will allow all families to move to Korea similar to how all families are allowed to move to Germany.

By also building the family housing at Camp Humphreys it will not only improve quality of life for US service members, but also save the American tax payer millions of dollars due to ending agreements with Seoul landlords that rent their apartments at inflated prices to USFK at fixed rates well above their market value.  It is all part of the USFK gravy train in Korea that has been operating for years that General Bell is trying to end.

General Bell also talked about the recent US-ROK cost sharing agreement:

Bell also reiterated his complaints over a recent agreement between Seoul and Washington on sharing the expenses for maintaining U.S. troops on the Korean Peninsula.

Last month, South Korea agreed to pay 725.5 billion won (US$789 million) to Washington next year and the same amount in 2008 with an adjustment for inflation, which Bell said is far short of the U.S. military’s minimum demand for 832 billion won.

He said the USFK may be forced to lay off South Korean employees at its bases and cut the number of contracts with local construction firms to offset the shortfall.

Mentioning laying off of USFK workers is a way to get the USFK labor union to begin taking action against the Korean government.  This has happened before where the union began protesting the Korean government because of prior South Korean USFK budget cuts.  However, I wish that General Bell would have mentioned the over $1 billion dollars in aid budgeted for next year to be sent to North Korea compared to the much less money budgeted for the US-ROK alliance.  This would have been a huge body blow to the Korean government because of the increased media attention to the subject that few people know about, that the South Korean government is more willing to pay more to the gangsters up North than pay for their own national defense.

Here is what General Bell had to say about the operational control hand over issue:

The commander expressed hope again that Seoul and Washington will soon fix a date for the transfer of wartime control of the South Korean military back to Seoul.

The U.S. is pushing to return control to South Korea in 2009, while South Korea wants a few more years to prepare for it.

“I am sure, as cooperative allies and through close consultations, we will be able to determine a transition date satisfactory to both sides. I hope that we can reach an agreement on that by this summer,” he said.

The Rumsfeld Pentagon was dead set on the 2009 hand over of operational control, hopefully Secretary Gates stays committed on this issue to keep the hand over to 2009.  If you read the actual full press release General Bell says himself that he believes the hand over can happen by 2009.  I highly recommend you read the whole press release, available on the USFK website.  It provides much context and better meaning of what General Bell was trying to convey than what the media reported.Â

If the Koreans continue to delay then use the words of their own President against them:

President Roh Moo-hyun on Wednesday said Korea is capable of exercising sole wartime operational control of its troops even if we get it back now. In an interview with the Yonhap news agency, the president said, The South Korean military’s capability is sufficient and it can get U.S. military support.”

So the bottom line is will this hand over happen by 2008?  General Bell was asked that by one of the reporters.  Here is his answer from the press release:

Building stuff is a function of two things. It takes money and time to put brink and mortar in place. If you mess with either one of those, it’ll take longer. What I’m looking for is a commitment to do this as expeditiously as possible. I realize there have been many complex issues surrounding the Camp Humphrey’s move. Politically, there have been protestors, some wonderful Koreans have been displaced, and I regret that. But this is an agreement between two governments. And now that we’ve made the agreement, and now that the citizens have been displaced and now that the land has been prepared or is being prepared, I think that it would serve both nations well to allocate the money necessary to do this as quickly as our construction companies can do it. I think that if we stretch it out because of money it won’t serve our purposes. So it’s not only about the physics of building with brick and mortar.

The physics do take some time but it’s also about commitment, frankly by both countries, to get this done. And if they don’t commit to an aggressive building program it will take decades. In the mean time, the quality of life for the military members and their families here will continue to degrade. Don’t forget, as I’m looking at Camp Humphreys, nobody will let me spend any money on the old facilities because they see that as a waste. So I’m caught in a soft seam here. I’m caught. I can’t fix up the old places and I can’t build the new places. That’s not fair. So I think we ought to build the new places. We’re great allies. We have a great alliance. We’re going to sit down and figure this out. We’re not going to debate this in the press. We’re going to find a way to go ahead and we will. We will sit down through the correct processes, both our Status of Forces Agreement process and our political processes where necessary, like Strategic [Security] Policy Initiative meetings, and iron this thing out and figure out where we are. I hope we will be able to do this sooner than later. I can’t offer you anything else today because I don’t have any other facts right now. All I know is what I read in the newspaper a couple of weeks ago.

General Bell is analyzing this correctly and wants money for construction to be authorized as soon as possible.  I have seen entire cities built in Korea in 2 years, a military base can be built in 2 years as well.  General Bell makes it out to be a matter of money which it really isn’t and he probably knows it.  Korea has money to make this happen which is evident by the over $1 billion dollars in aid being sent to North Korea next year.  Money is not the obstacle, it is a question of will power.  The Korean government does not want the USFK transformation to happen and I have outlined my reasons for this before.

Is General Bell being undiplomatic by openly criticizing the Korean government in a public forum like this?  For anyone that is concerned about the undiplomatic tone of General Bell’s comment I highly recommend you read the entire press release followed by reading this brilliant posting from OFK about South Korean diplomacy towards the United States and then tell me who is not being diplomatic.

In a normal country General Bell’s words may be seen as undiplomatic, however South Korea is not a normal country.  Remember this is still a country that decides liability of fender benders with fists fights and debates in the Korean parliament often turn into wrestling matches.  General Garry “Give Me My Damn Bombing Range” Trexler openly threatened the Korean government with the removal of the entire US Air Force in Korea if his air crews were not given a bombing range to replace the one they lost due to totally unreasonable and ridiculous anti-American protests.  Guess what his threats worked and within days he was given his bombing range.  General Bell hasn’t reached the point of ultimatum time yet, but after reading this press release the time may be coming closer than we think.

Finally, isn’t it some what amazing that the commander of US Force in Korea, a four star general to boot was not given any fore warning from the Korean government about the Camp Humphreys delay?  He found out about it like the rest of us by reading it in the newspaper?  Is this still an alliance?Â

You can read a whole lot more on this over at:

Marmot’s Hole

Lost Nomad

One Free Korea

The recent dispute between the Korean and US governments has heated up recently as after beef fragments were found in the first shipments of US beef to Korea in three years.  The Koreans say that bone chips in US beef is a health concern because of the case of mad cow disease in one US dairy cow a few years ago.  The US government is claiming that the mad cow disease fears are just being used as a ploy to stop US beef from entering Korea and protecting the domestic Korean beef market from cheaper US beef.  One US governmental official has even gone as far to accuse the Korean government of planting the bone chips:

Park Hong-soo, minister of agriculture and forestry, has not made any particular comment on the beef import war between Seoul and Washington, in contrast to aggressive words by U.S. policymakers including Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns and Deputy Under Secretary Chuck Lambert.

Foreign media quoted Chuck Lambert, as saying, “The U.S. beef industry is suspicious about where the fragments came from. Some people have suggested DNA sampling or other means of trying to determine the origin of those bone chips.”

A U.S. agricultural news service reported that U.S. beef officials, in off-the-record comments, have intimated South Korea may have “planted” the bone fragments as an excuse to keep American beef out of the Korean market. An Australian broadcaster said Chuck Lambert is not ignoring the possibility that the shipments may have been tampered with.

Conveniently after the bone chips were found and disputed by the US government than the Koreans found dioxin poisoning in the beef.  Dioxin poisoning isn’t as ominous as the Korean government would lead you to believe.  The small trace amounts of dioxin come from the environment from cattle breathing in for example burned plastic or smoke from power plants and factories.  If you have ever smelled burned plastic guess what, you have dioxin in you.  The trace amounts are not enough to harm anyone, but the Korean government is going to use whatever they can to keep the domestic beef market closed to the US cattle industry. 

Now on the heels of this controversy the Korean government will not begin inspecting agricultural products bound for USFK commissaries in Korea:

South Korean officials and U.S. military personnel will carry out joint quarantine inspections of agricultural products brought into the country for the United States Forces Korea (USFK) starting in April, the government said Thursday.

The U.S. military is currently responsible for quarantine inspections of food imports for consumption by American soldiers stationed here.

The move, agreed upon at a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) meeting last week, will involve quarantine checks at the U.S. Army’s main garrison in Yongsan in Seoul as well as logistics support bases in the port of Busan and Gimpo near the capital, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said.

"Inspecting agricultural products, even those set aside for U.S. soldiers, is important to prevent harmful pests from coming into the country and posing problems for the local ecosystem," said a ministry official.

I just have to wonder if this is at all related to the FTA and US beef rejections issues.  For decades the Korean government had no concerns about USFK agricultural products being inspected by USFK, but now all the sudden they want to inspect the products.  You can buy US beef in USFK commissaries that have bones in them.  These beef products are some of the most popular blackmarket items in the commissary.  Will these quarantine inspectors stop these beef shipments from being sold in the commissaries?  Will they find more dioxin poisoning?  I wouldn’t be surprised if they did.

This is all beginning to remind me of the camp pollution issue where the closed out USFK camps are so polluted that the Korean government cannot take them back because of public health concerns and demand that USFK pay to clean up the camps.  Of course this whole issue is a fraud just like the US beef issue because the closed out US camps in their respective cities are a virtual oasis of green in the middle of densely populated and overly polluted urban cities.  Enough of an oasis in fact that many of these camp are being looked at to be turned into public parks, yet they are so polluted it is a public health issue despite decades of US soldiers including myself living on these camps and never having adverse health effects.

Now we are to believe that the food especially the beef that US soldiers eat in Korea is infected with mad cow disease and dioxin poisoning and just like the closed out camps, is a public health issue thus the general Korean public needs to be protected from it.  If I am to believe the Korean government, I must currently be infected with mad cow disease and dioxin poisoning from US beef plus whatever else they find from these agricultural inspections, in addition to being exposed to radiation poisoning from living for years on USFK camps in Korea and not believe that both of these issues are nothing more than Korean demagoguery being used for political and economic advantage against the United States.

Talk about a coincidence.  Earlier this week I criticized President Roh for not visiting and thanking US soldiers stationed in Korea after being in the Blue House now for over four years.  Now Nomad has linked to this Yonhap article which shows the South Korean Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook visited and thanked airmen at Osan Airbase. The Stars and Stripes has an article out as well. It is good to see one of the leading politicians in the country thanking US military personnel serving in Korea; it definitely doesn’t happen enough.  Now when will we see President Roh come out of hiding and visit a US military post? 

A really good article today in the Stars & Stripes about how the Camp Casey USO has been helping non-American spouses in Korea.