Category: USFK

USFK Command Sergeant Major Barry Wheeler has a message for all NCOs in Korea:

Noncommissioned officers commit the majority of sexual assaults in the military, and that is “not OK,” said the senior enlisted service member in South Korea. Worse, the NCOs are assaulting the people they’re supposed to lead, U.S. Forces Korea Command Sgt. Maj. Barry Wheeler said during an hour long radio program Friday.

“My message to NCOs: I don’t care what service you’re in, knock it off,” he said. “You better be protecting that person’s integrity and taking care of them and making sure they have a safe place to live and not taking advantage of them.”

It is a sad but true fact that NCOs are committing the majority of sexual assaults. Here is the main reason:

Wheeler said sexual assaults are “usually associated … I’m sad to say, with an overconsumption of alcohol, where one of the two, if not both, have made a poor decision to continue to drink.”

The alcohol culture here in Korea definitely is a major contributor to the sexual assaults. However, there are a few other dynamics at play also. Here in Korea everybody lives together in close quarters in the barracks. Thus fraternizing between NCOs and soldiers is much more common here than compared to being stationed in the US. Back in the states the NCOs usually live off post and are married.

Plus you have soldiers being promoted to the sergeant rank to quickly now. Many times soldiers are getting promoted to E5 with 3 years of service. Young NCOs are not likely to hang out with NCOs that are much older than him/her and decides to hang out with old E4 and E3 buddies who are in their same age group instead. This causes them mentally to not make that transition from a soldier to a leader which an NCO is expected to be.

The over consumption of alcohol, close quarters in the barracks, and immature NCOs is what is causing this problem. How to stop it? Well ruthlessly stopping fraternizing between soldiers and NCOs and giving soldiers other options besides going to the “ville” and getting smashed is a place to start to end the overconsumption of alcohol culture here.

I have always felt that the “villes” around the camps here in 2ID are treated like a babysitting service for the Army here. Go to the ville, do what you want, don’t bother the Koreans outside the ville, what happens in the ville stays in the ville, and be back to work on Monday. The ville promotes alcohol abuse and sex, so why are people surprised this is carried over to the barracks?

If I had my way I would put the ville off limits at night to underage drinkers and any club that had foreign national women working in it would be put off limits because we all know they aren’t there to be cheap labor to sweep the floors. By getting the high risk and impressionable younger soldiers out of the ville this prevents alcohol and sex from being thrown in their face and will in turn cause them to seek other forms of entertainment. Plus getting the foreign nationals out of the ville would greatly curb human trafficking and prostitution.

These changes would cause the villes to have to change their business models to be more like US style clubs than relying on cheap beer and scantly clad foreign national “juicy girls” to make money. I think this change in culture in the ville will directly change the culture in the barracks that leads to sexual assaults.

Why doesn’t the Army do the things I recommend? Well then the Army would have to find real alternative activities for the younger soldiers to do besides going to the ville. It is much easier to let the ville babysit them during the weekend instead.

Anyone got any better ideas because just telling them to “knock it off” isn’t going to stop this problem?

Mark tipped me off to this article in the Stars and Stripes. The article explains that the family of the woman killed in the traffic accident with a US Army LMTV two weeks ago outside of Camp Casey, has depised the protestors trying to cash in on them woman’s death:

Her death has generated a wave of interest from local media and protesters, who have besieged the family. Yang-sups wife stressed that the family wants no part of the protests.

The protesters urge us to make waves and make the case bigger and pave the way for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Korea, said Shun. They stay at the accident site day and night. Our business is right next to the accident site. Since the accident it has been impossible for us to open our business. We cannot even go to our office.

The family is also looking for compensation from the US Army:

So far, he said, the U.S. military has paid them about $5,000. But Yang-sup plans to request additional money under the Status of Forces Agreement rules that allow South Koreans to claim compensation for damage, death or injury caused by U.S. forces.

Yang-sup said his business cost him about $100,000 and that it will lose $10,000 every month that he cannot work.

I would have to think the Army is going to show the family the money here at some near point. Here is the most common sense statement I have seen come out of this tragic accident:

We hate to see the driver suffer or go through life difficulties through this accident, he said. Even though he was warned by the co-driver twice to be careful, the noise prevented him from hearing the warnings. We do not believe he did it on purpose. He was a young soldier, far from home and defending South Korea. The last thing we want is for the driver to be punished.

Any bets if this will be reported in the Korean media?

According to the Stars and Stripes a group of local protestors will continue to sit at the site of last Friday’s traffic accident. This group feels USFK doesn’t do enough to prevent traffic accidents:

Kang said he’s tired of U.S. military promises that officials will work to avoid accidents. He wants U.S. leaders to “take substantial measures” and “stick to them.”

One idea, he said, is to restrict the movement of bigger military vehicles during peak traffic times.

I can guarantee that 2ID’s traffic accident rate is well below the Korean average. I have seen all kinds of accidents on these roads up here including one just yesterday I saw where a car took out a moped. 2ID puts a lot of emphasis in driver’s training. You have to go through a full week 40 hour block of instruction before being allowed to even take the driver’s test. When the soldiers take the driver’s test guess who tests them? A Korean official. The Korean official is the one that grades the tests and decides who passes and receives a learners permit. The US Army does not pass people on driver’s test the Koreans do.

Then after receiving the learners permit the soldier still has to receive 8 hours of road testing from the unit’s Master Driver before becoming officially licensed. It is by no means an easy process to get a license. Then just to dispatch a truck to drive off post there is a whole other set of procedures you have to go through that is not easy.

Then there are the procedures you have to go through for convoy operations. I once sat in a 4 hour convoy briefing with the Assistant Division Commander. Every driver and passenger in the convoy had to brief the General on his or her’s duties during the convoy. You really have to see one of these convoy briefings to realize how elaborate they are.

Then Mr. Kang’s idea to restrict 2ID vehicle movements during peak traffic times is not a good idea either. The traffic stays congested up here from eight in the morning till about seven at night. That would mean the military would have to work at night. I’m sure all the business and club owners in Dongducheon would love that. Anyway, at night accidents will still occur because of the number of drunk drivers on the road. In my unit there was a HMMWV that was hit by a drunk driver early one morning during a convoy movement when the drunk driver crossed the median. The drunk driver died in the wreck and seriously injured some soldiers. No headline news on that wreck.

I’m of the opinion that if military traffic is banned during the day then all the big trucks on the road should be banned during the day. I have seen numerous accidents involving the big Korean trucks but they don’t get put on the front page of the paper.

Here is something else I disagree with the protestors on:

Kang also blasted the process that South Koreans must use to request compensation from the U.S. military after an accident. Many South Koreans become frustrated, he said, because it’s too difficult — and takes too long — to fill out and submit paperwork for a claim he said usually doesn’t result in enough compensation. “The Korean victims cannot be compensated properly for all the damages,” Kang said.

Having worked a manuever damage control position here in Korea I can tell you we pay out big bucks to people for any property damage they receive due to 2ID vehicle accidents. It is by no means a difficult process. This is just propaganda Mr. Kang is throwing out there to smear the Army with.

What is interesting about this group of protestors is that there is only 2-4 of them out there when I drove by the other day. Not exactly a big following. In fact this whole thing has amazingly not been blown up out of proportion compared to 2002. Probably the fact she was an old ajumma in the highway where there is no crosswalk has something to do with it compared to two girls going to a birthday party getting crushed by a tracked vehicle in 2002. Though they to were walking on the highway.

I think a big factor that has prevented this from getting blown out of proportion was the quick action by the Army to show regret for what happened. Even President Bush gave his condolescences to President Roh the next day.

Also in 2002, it was only two years since the historic North and South summit in Pyongyang and many South Koreans began to feel the North really wasn’t that bad and that the US was the primary cause of tension on the peninsula.

Plus in 2002 you had the World Cup going on that drove nationalism to never before seen levels. This all combined into the xenophobic anti-American Hatefest that was 2002.

Now three years later it is obvious that North Korea is not a misunderstood cousin but a gangster state with their constant brinkmanship, defector testimonies, and lack of reciprocal benefits for all the aid that South Korea gives them.

Also the US is serious about removing troops from Korea. Many Koreans will say they want to troops to leave Korea but when it begins to happen people begin to drag their feet because the reality of no USFK begins to sink in. Even if they don’t want to admit it many people here in Korea still want us around.

Finally Korea’s xenophobia has been focused more on Japan than the US anymore due to the Dokdo and history textbook disputes. All of these things combined is what I believe has led to just 4 people protesting instead of the ten of thousands in 2002. Then again it is still only a week after the accident. Still plenty of time to begin a US Hatefest 2005.

UPDATE III:

The US government must be really concerned about the possible anti-US backlash here because now even President Bush has expressed his condolences to President Roh about the accident.

I first want to express my country’s deepest condolences for the accident that took place where a U.S. military vehicle killed a Korean woman, and we send our deepest sympathies to the woman’s families,” Bush told reporters after a meeting with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.

“And Mr. President, I just want you to know our hearts are sad as a result of this incident,” he said, looking at Roh sitting next to him at the briefing with the press.

Bush’s swift response to the road accident apparently reflected concerns that a fresh wave of anti-American sentiment may flare up in South Korea over the tragedy as it did over a similar accident three years ago.

Once again good move. A lot has been learned from 2002.

UPDATE II:

Here is what the Joongang is reporting. The only new news they provided was that the accident involved an MP LMTV. They also reported General Campbell’s apology and condolences to the family for the accident. Good move by the General, so far the army has been handling this difficult situation pretty well.

UPDATE I:

The Korea Times is reporting that 8th US Army commander General Charles Campbell is apologizing for the tragic accident:

“Gen. Campbell sincerely apologizes and expresses his deep personal condolences to the family and friends for the tragic death,?? the U.S. Army said in a news release.

(…)

The general?s apology came just hours after the tragedy took place given that two South Korean schoolgirls killed by a U.S. armored vehicle had sparked massive anti-American protests in the country in June 2002.

The article provides some more details about the case:

The woman, a 51-year-old yogurt delivery worker with the surname Kim, was hit by a 2.5-ton military truck driven by an Army private in Saengyon-dong, Tongduchon, around 2 p.m.

It was not immediately confirmed whether the U.S. private was off duty at the time of the accident. He is under the custody of Korean police in Tongduchon for questioning.

The soldiers in truck were obviously on duty since they were driving a military vehicle. Since the soldiers were on duty they will fall under the SOFA agreement that means that the case will be handled by the US military law system.

I can already see the unfair SOFA protestors now.

It has already hit the news wires, but this is what I have been dealing with all afternoon. I’ll let the Army Public Affairs Office explain in detail what happened before I comment on it but it doesn’t look good initially but let’s reserve judgement and let the investigation play out.

This is sure give the Hanchongnyun types protesting this weekend plenty to protest and cause trouble about unfortunately. Especially with the anniversary of the 2002 accident coming up on Monday. There couldn’t be a worse time for this. My condolences to the family for this tragedy.

This Saturday 4,000 protestors from the union representing USFK workers rallied near Yongsan Garrison in Seoul to protest the planned job cuts due to base consolidation and a budget short fall due to the Korean government cutting the amount of money it pays to up keep the alliance.

Almost 90 percent of the 13,000-member Korean Employees Union (KEU) voted a month ago to stage protests in response to a U.S. Forces Korea announcement that it would cut as many as 1,000 jobs because South Korea reduced the amount of money it pays to help base U.S. troops on the peninsula. Officials from the two countries signed a two-year agreement in late April that requires South Korea to pay 680.4 billion won (about $680 million) annually, an 8.9 percent drop from last year’s 746.9 billion won payment.

Let’s see, this protest is more against the Korean government than USFK since they are the one’s that cut the budget and it drew 4,000 protestors which is more people than the 3,000 Hanchongnyun protestors from last week, yet the Hanchongnyun protestors made international headlines. Could it be because the USFK union workers conducted a civilized protests and didn’t resort to bashing policemens heads and destroying property which the news only likes to report? I would be surprised if any newspaper or the news gives you the statistic I just gave you that the base workers drew more people than Hanchongnyun.

I bet the union could of swelled their numbers even more if they put out they were going to beat the riot police and fire bomb Yongsan. All the knucleheads from the universities would of come out even though they probably don’t give a damn if a base worker loses their job or not; they only want to bash in some heads and destroy property to brag about it at the bar that night. These violent protestors have no fear of being arrested so the protests are more for their own entertainment purposes than being a civic endeavor.

Hanchongnyun wouldn’t even have the amount of protestors that got last weekend if asaulting police officers and destroying property was punished with stiff jail sentences. I applaud the union for not resorting to what should be illegal behavior.

On Oranckay’s blog he brings up a theory due to the recent stand off in the East Sea between the South Korean and Japanese Coast Guards, that detaining people is some what more acceptable in Korean culture compared to the US or Japan. He uses the 2002 USFK soldier abduction incident as an example:

Reminds me of the subway incident with some USFK soldiers in 2002. In my view the incident was a series of cross-cultural misunderstandings. I’ve met Suh Kyung Won personally on a few occasions and his public behavior over the years does make me believe that he probably touched one of the three US soldiers in one way or another, as he is accused of doing. No responsible public figure wants to be seen with him anymore, and he likes to make a scene and make himself a victim at demonstrations. But a man of his age can physically push a young man around in Korea, or at least do it and not then get a violent response, which appears to be what he got from the soldiers.

Americans think that once someone touches you you are authorized to unleash more than is necessary to merely get out of the situation. Angered by that, the students accompanying Suh dragged one of the soldiers on to the campus of nearby Kyunghee University to make him “apologize.” Well knowing that a US soldier had been taken by Korean students somewhere against his will, the riot police outside the school still chose not to raid the campus and rescue the guy. Like I’m saying, Koreans just don’t think “detaining” someone to make a point is full-fledged kidnapping or hostage taking, and the police, being Korean, knew instinctively that the soldier would be coming back soon enough. It was not worth breaching the unwritten rules of engagement that exists between students and riot police.

I’m convinced Mr. Suh intentionally provoked the fight in order to start an incident for his own propaganda purposes which he succeeded in doing. Oranckay is right that in American culture if some one slaps you or hits you, you feel you have the right to self defense. We brief soldiers that if a Korean national is trying to provoke a fight with you to walk away. If someone is comfortable enough to provoke a fight they probably got plenty of “concerned citizens” to help them out. “Concerned citizens” is Korean media code talk for an unrulely mob. The best thing to do in this situation is to swallow your pride and walk away. We use the 2002 subway incident as a perfect example of why you should do this. If those guys would of just walked away they may have been able to avoid the incident that happened.

We also brief the soldiers on the Shinchon Stabbing incident. That soldier was getting beat down by a mob so he pulled a knife out to defend himself and in the process seriously injured one of the Koreans involved in the melee. The soldier involved I have actually spoke with before and he maintains that the group he was with was assaulted by the “concerned citizens” after getting in a drunken arguement with them and that he pulled out the knife in self defense after the mob became to big and violent and had their own weapons. Carrying a knife in America is no big deal, here it is. In Korea if you pull out a knife their cultural norms treat it as if he pulled out a gun on someone in America.

Who knows who started the fight but the soldiers involved were wrong for being in the off limits area past curfew to begin with. That is why we have these policies to begin with to prevent stupid stuff like this from happening. So because of his stupidity he got convicted for attempted murder and got 3.5 years in ROK prison. He probably wishes he kept that knife at home now. However, in this incident the soldiers that did not pull out the knife were also detained by the Koreans on the scene and beaten. No Koreans were ever charged in this incident that I know of.

On the opposite end of the spectrum here is an incident where “concerned citizens” should of helped detain a violent Korean male who had just killed a US Army Major. Two officer friends of the Major held down the attacker while the crowd looked on and tried to take the murder weapon away from the soldier who secured it. No effort was made by the “concerned citizens” to help detain the attacker until two more US Army soldiers walked up to the scene and offered to help hold down the murderer so the other two officers could begin first aid on the Major.

So you have a case where a Korean guy is hit in the nose by GI after the Korean guy provoked the fight and three soldiers are detained and beaten.

Then you have another case where a soldier pulled out a knife and cut a Korean involved in the melee on the neck and he and everyone with him is detained and beaten.

But when a US Army Major is murdered no “concerned citizens” step in and help detain the murderer. The murderer wasn’t detained until two Americans arrive and held down the murderer. Who knows maybe if some of the “concerned citizens” stepped in and helped to immediately detain the murderer the other officers who were trained medical professionals may have been able to help perform first aid on the Major in time to help save his life.

Then in another interesting side note LTC Steven Boylan who was the 8th US Army spokesman was attacked and stabbed in a subway station near Yongsan while traveling to work. No “concerned citizens” bothered to detain his attackers either.

So I think that the detention issue in Korea is not really a cultural norm but a legal problem. If certain Koreans feel that they will not be prosecuted for detaining and harming foreigners than that is encouraging them to do just that. The “concerned citizens” on the subway kidnapped the soldiers off the train because they knew they could use them for propaganda purposes and could get away with it because the police would do nothing to them. It is the same thing with the fishing boat that detained the two Japanese Coast Guard personnel. Those fishermen know they aren’t going to get in any real trouble for what they did.

So with all the complaints that the SOFA is unfair I have decided to join the bandwagon and agree that it is unfair too, but not in the way most people think. I propose that when Koreans commit crimes against US soldiers they should be sent to US military courts. Seems fair to me because that is only way these kooks that commit kidnapping, assaults, destruction of property, and even murder of USFK personnel will receive proper punishment. The saddest thing about this though, is that very few Koreans even know about the kidnappings, assaults, and murder of US soldiers to begin with.

However, with all of this, the best policy if you are an American soldier in Korea is to swallow your pride and walk away. That would avoid many problems here to begin with.

If Jodi from the Asia Pages thought the picture below was bad:

Well, I just can’t wait until she sees this:

Here some background on this image from the Star and Stripes.

If you are wondering if MAJ Laporte is related to USFK Commander General Laporte; he is General Laporte’s son. Anyway I think it good that students get to hang out with soldiers and see the equipment. Heck even Uri Party law makers came to Camp Casey and the Korea Training Center to check out American weapon systems. As long as these displays are handled professionally and don’t turn into a playground of kids running around with guns or jumping around equipment unsupervised, students should leave with a better understanding of the US military’s role here in Korea and the soldiers can feel proud that people are taking interest in what they do.

This was their first time interacting with Americans so who knows how many negative stereotypes they may have had before were changed and vice versa between the soldiers and the Koreans. However, the comment about the strength of the ROK Army is a common one I have heard from Koreans here before, but Koreans should feel confident that the ROK Army is a highly trained and capable force that can competently defend South Korea.

Overall, I think the visit is a good idea and I’m sure they will continue because many Korean schools contact the Army to have us setup displays like this. Like I said before as long as they are handled professionally it should be an interesting learning experience for everyone involved.

NOTE:  I have a much more updated posting about Yongsan available at this link.

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The Garrison – Yongsan Garrison is a large compound located right in the middle of Seoul. It is truly an odd sight for such a big base in the middle of one of the world’s largest most vibrant cities. Could you imagine a large military base in the middle of Manhattan? That is why there are currently plans to move the compound within the next three years.

If you are lucky enough to get stationed here enjoy the place while it lasts because it is a great place to be stationed. Yongsan is one of the nicest military posts I have been on to include anywhere in the United States.

The camp houses some 6,000 soldiers, 1,000 ROK Army KATUSA soldiers that are augmented by 1,000 US civilian workers and 6,000 Korean civilian workers. The on post housing is outstanding with many new barracks buildings for the soldiers. There is also the newly renovated Hanam Village for families that are housed off post. For those that choose to live on the economy off post beware that there are numerous people willing to swindle you, so make sure you read your housing lease very closely. Click Here for the latest Yongsan housing information.

The shopping on the post cannot be beat. The PX is the largest I have seen in the army accompanied by the largest commissary I have ever seen. The post also has numerous mini-malls to augment the already great shopping at the PX.

The Post also has a multitude of eating establishments to choose from all over the post. The nicest restaurants are located at the 5-Star Hotel The Dragon Hill Lodge.

That’s right, Yongsan has it’s very own 5-Star Hotel. The Dragon Hill is one of the nicest hotels in all of Korea and is affordable to the average GI. Not only are the rooms and restaurants great but the hotel also has numerous bars and shopping areas to keep you occupied not to mention the fitness center and swimming pool.

Shopping – The Itaewon district just outside of the Yongsan garrison offers plenty of both shopping and entertainment. The district is the easiest market for shopping for foreigners in Korea. The shop owners in Itaewon all can speak some English and are familiar with western tastes. Unbelievable discounts on suits, leather jackets, hand bags, wallets, jewelery, etc. can be found in Itaewon. You will be absolutely amazed by the bargains there. Make sure you always haggle for the best price because in Asian culture haggling is expected so don’t by shy to negotiate for a lower price. Just tell them “kaka-chu-seyo!” This is Korean for, “I want a discount.” Use this phrase because it will save you money. Don’t pay more than you have to because if you do it encourages the shop keepers to raise their prices to rip off other foreigners.

Nightlife – The nightlife in Itaewon is outstanding. There is a club for everybody’s taste in Itaewon. There are rock clubs, jazz bars, Irish pubs, rave clubs, and your typical “juicy girl” bars. One of the most popular bars in Itaewon that is great for meeting other foreigners is Geckos just across the street from Burger King. Definitely a good place to start your Itaewon adventures at. However, do be careful what bars you go into at Itaewon because many of them have been put off limits by the army.

You do not want to get busted by the MPs. The MPs do have people in uniform and plain clothes monitoring the off limits establishments. The penalties are severe for infractions. Overall you can have a great time partying in Itaewon without visiting the more shadier establishments. So don’t feel like you are missing out on anything.

The Camp

Camp Red Cloud is located in Uijongbu which is located just to the north of Seoul. The base is named after Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud who was posthumously recognized with the Medal of Honor for combat actions during the Korean War.  You can read more about how the camp was named at the below link:

• The True Story of How Camp Red Cloud, South Korea Got Its Name

CRC is home to the 2nd Infantry Division command group, Special Troops Battalion, Air Force personnel, and a few other smaller units. The camp is a great place to be stationed. It has two pizza shops, a bowling alley, a food court, bank, commissary, PX, theater, and a small golf course complete with a country club.

An adequate playing field, a nice gym, and good weight room accommodates all the athletes out there. The housing at CRC is some of the best in 2ID with soldiers living in new barracks with no more than 2 people per room.

Here is a map of how Camp Red Cloud is laid out today:

The front gate of CRC along with other buildings near the front of the camp were demolished in recent years to make way for the new Uijongbu highway overpass.  The first thing seen when entering the camp now is the old chapel, which is probably the most historic structure remaining on Camp Red Cloud:

Across the street from the chapel is the camp’s school:

This building used to be home to a computer lab, MWR, and a cafe, however due to the increase in families being allowed to PCS to Korea this building has been reestablished as a school.  Behind the school is the new PX:

The PX isn’t all that big, but it is a much better facility than what CRC used to have.  The old PX that sits adjacent to the bowling alley is used as a location where Koreans sell local products as well as housing the post’s clothing sales store:

Speaking of clothing sales, the old clothing sales store is now used as a arts and crafts store:

Besides the reconstruction of the front gate and the building of a new PX there really hasn’t been that many new buildings constructed on CRC.  In fact some people are still working out of quonset huts:

Here is a picture of the Village Green parade field used for various ceremonies:

Here is a picture of typical barracks building on CRC that borders the Village Green:

Camp Red Cloud is also home to the 2nd Infantry Division Museum that is well worth anyone visiting CRC to go and check out:

CRC is kind of divided into two parts due to the helicopter pad and golf course located towards the middle of the camp:

Right across from the helicopter pad is the 2nd Infantry Division headquarters:

Passed the helicopter pad and golf course are the other batch of barracks on the far side of the camp:

This far side of the camp is where the commissary and the restaurant Mitchell’s is located:

Here are some historical pictures of CRC via Ottmar’s photos:

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Photo 8:

The Ville

The Uijongbu area has plenty to offer for GIs. The “ville” located just across the street from the CRC front gate has all you typical GI stores in Korea. You can buy suits, jackets, pirated software and games, plaques, coins, paintings, trinkets, and much more in the ville. Also the ville has a few clubs with your standard “drinky girl” scene in Korea. The drinky girls are mostly Fillipinas and Russians looking to make a quick buck from you buying them $20 drinks. Yes that’s right $20 drinks. The prostitution in the ville has been largely cleaned up due to recent media exposure and USFK’s crack down on human trafficking and prostitution

Things to Do: 

The surrounding are has some great outdoor opportunities. Just out the back gate of CRC take a left and take another left just past the car dealership to explore the mountains just to the west of CRC. The road going up into the mountains up “Radar Hill” is a great place to go running or road marching. The forest scenery is outstanding, the air fresh, and no traffic. There is even a lake you can explore once you reach the top of the road along with a old ROK Army compound that is now deserted.

Also in the area is Suraksan Mountain that is just outside of Camp Staneley in Uijongbu. Exiting from the Camp Stanley ville gate take an immediate right and follow the fence line until you reach the hiking trail that leads up the mountain. Suraksan is a strenuous hike with amazing scenery. Bring a lunch and picnic along the stream running from the mountain or do some serious rock climbing to the summit of the mountain.

Another hiking trip you can take is up Dobongsan Mountain. The mountain is part of Pukhansan National Park and features some spectacular rock climbing to reach the summit. From the summit you can see all of Uijongbu, Seoul, and all the way into North Korea. In fact the North Korean flag pole located at Pamunjom is visible from the summit. If you are not into rock climbing then explore the many beautiful Buddhist temples located in the park. The monks at the temples are very welcoming to foreigners so don’t feel intimidated exploring the temples.

To reach Dobongsan just get on the subway at Uijongbu station and travel south on Line 1 and exit at Dobongsan Station. At the station walk across the street towards the mountain. The path towards the mountain has lots of hiking and climbing shops if you need any gear along with many restaurants. Once passed the ville area you will enter into the park. The cost to enter park is usually around 2000 won or about $1.75. So extremely cheap comparted to American National Parks. So get out and see some of these exciting parks around Uijongbu.

Finally Uijongbu has extremely easy access to the Korean capitol city of Seoul. The Uijongbu train station is only a 5 minute taxi ride from CRC and from there the subway can take you to downtown Seoul in less than 45 minutes. This is one of the best features about being stationed on CRC.

Downsides:

One downside to CRC is that it is often the site of protests that occur in the country against US forces since it is the division headquarters. The protests have picked up since June 2002 when an accident involving a 2ID tracked vehicle killed two Korean school girls. The leftist and pro-North Korean forces came out in force to protest American soldiers and start riots hoping to get a reaction from the US soldiers at CRC. These activities continue periodically to this day so pulling gate guard at CRC can be interesting at times.

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

The Oranckay first reported about the MBC interview with SGT Mark Walker who was driving the tracked vehicle in June 2002 that accidentally ran over and killed two young Korean girls. The Stars and Stripes has picked up on the story now:

Former Army Sgt. Mark Walker is still haunted by the day three years ago when the U.S. military vehicle he was driving killed two South Korean girls on a country road in Uijongbu, according to a news segment that aired in South Korea late Friday night.

“I know there was nothing I could have done to stop it,” he said during an interview at a McDonald’s in the Atlanta area in April. “I have flashbacks every day.”

Walker granted the interview in April with producers from “W,” a South Korean news magazine that airs each Friday night on the network MBC. He told the network he lost 50 pounds during the subsequent trial and that he sleeps four hours a night, if he’s lucky.

Kim Hyun-Chul, an MBC producer and director, said he wanted the 20-minute news story to explore the American perspective of the controversial and traumatic accident. Kim and his colleagues went to the States last month and spent 10 days trying to find Walker.

They used Web searches on America Online, inquiries to the U.S. military and even random phone calls to dozens of people named Mark Walker in Atlanta before finding the right one, the segment showed. When they finally interviewed him, he agreed to a microphone but not an up-close camera shot.

Here is Walker’s and the Army’s version of what happened:

On June 13, 2002, Walker was driving a 60-ton tracked bridge carrier along Highway 56 in the northern part of the country as part of a convoy. According to court-martial testimony, Walker didn’t see the two 13-year-old girls as the vehicle went up a hill and rounded a curve. After his commander spotted the girls, Walker tried to brake, but the vehicle’s momentum carried them forward and they crushed the girls, according to U.S. military officials’ accounts of the accident.

This would seem to be a tragic accident but the internet rumor mill in Korea destroyed any search for the truth of this accident. The power of the internet is definitely displayed by this case. Many rational thinking Korean people believe Walker ran the girls over on purpose and the Army is covering it up and Walker should be rotting in a Korean prison.

I have had KATUSAs tell me they think the guy ran the girls over on purpose and then backed up on them again to make sure they were dead. Then the rumors about him celebrating after the accident and then joking about it once he got back to camp and caused a fight with a KATUSA. Many of these rational thinking people will tell you there is video of these incidents on the internet to prove their claims, though when asked to produce them no one can. Because they only exist in the collective minds of the people that pass these rumors to bash the US military for their own seperate reasons.

The MBC interview of course made sure to take the mandatory cheap shot at the US military:

The segment, which aired during South Korean prime time just before midnight Friday night, also addressed some of the failings U.S. troops have had in other foreign countries, including scenes from prison abuse at Abu Ghraib in Iraq.

What Abu Graib has to do with something that happened in 2002 is beyond me, especially considering the soldiers (I think shitbags is a more appropriate term) involved in that incident are in jail now or at least still standing trial. What happened in Abu Graib it could be argued is the same thing that happens in ROK Army basic training. I don’t think the shitbags at Abu Graib made the terrorists eat feces like the ROK Army does. I would rather be on a dog leash then be forced to eat human feces out of the toilet. So will the Korea media include in every story about the ROK Army the human feces scandal? I think not, but it is a fair comparison.