This is news that is not good hear:

While half of the Seoul-based soldiers busted so far in fiscal 2007 were in trouble for marijuana, those serving in outlying areas were more often abusing prescription medicines such as OxyContin that contain the opiate derivative oxycodone.

Officials at Yongsan Garrison, one of four headquarters for the Army community’s geographic divisions, say they see between five and eight soldiers busted for drug use in an average year. But with more than three months left in fiscal 2007, which ends Sept. 30, they’ve already seen 16 soldiers test positive for drug use. Of those, eight tested positive for marijuana. Only one tested positive for OxyContin.

Drug abuse officials speculate this is because marijuana is more easily obtained in Seoul’s entertainment district than in other areas where servicemembers are located.

One of the things that Korean authorities enforce very strictly are the country’s drug laws, but unfortunately it seems like historically Itaewon seems to get a bit of pass when it comes to lesser drugs like marijuana. The punishment these guys that get caught depends on their battalion commander.  I had a battalion commander who had a policy of an administrative chapter for a positive drug test.  Other commanders I’ve had went with Field Grade 15’s.  It is definitely something that should be a case by case basis, but the punishment should be severe. 

Via Nomad, comes this USFK good news story that actually made it into a Korean newspaper:

They attend the English class in the Underwood Education Hall of the Saemoonan Presbyterian Church in Jongno, central Seoul, every Thursday and Saturday afternoon.

The class began on April 19 with 15 children, aged from 12 to 13, from the Jongno Social Welfare Center, with cooperation of soldiers from the 14th Military Police Detachment of the USFK and Korean Augmentation Troops to the U.S. Army. But the idea for this program was developed between Park Jin, an entrepreneur and church member, and USFK Provost Marshall Sgt. Maj. Patrick O’Connor, who have cultivated a friendship that dates back to 1983, when they served together as military policemen at Camp Page in Chuncheon, Gangwon province.

On May 20, Lt. Col. David Briar, USFK Provost Marshall deputy commander, and Min Kyung-chang, a Yonsei University professor and church member, signed an agreement to commit ten soldiers from the 14th Military Police Detachment and KATUSAs to teach English to underprivileged Korean children.

If anyone is wondering the signing of such an "agreement" does not mean this soldier are being forced to teach English.  It is more of a formality and possible photo op than anything.  Soldiers don’t need to be forced to do something like this because there are plenty of volunteers.  A battalion usually has around 400-500 soldiers and 10 soldiers volunteering to teach English is not a huge number meet. 

All across USFK there are programs just like this and from my personal experience being involved in them is that they are definitely a positive experience for both the soldiers and the children.  However, programs like this don’t get soldiers out of the ville, because the type of people who hang out in the ville don’t volunteer for things like this to begin with.  Usually the more high speed soldiers who regularly volunteer for things anyway participate, which is fine with me because than the military is putting their best soldiers out to represent USFK. 

Now where I have seen issues arise with these programs is managing Korean expectations.  I have seen programs that were agreed upon to be only once or twice a week suddenly start growing because the teachers start asking the volunteers to come on additional days instead of requesting it through the unit commander.  Like I said before, usually the high speed soldiers that usually volunteer for things anyway participate in these programs and find it hard to tell the Korean teachers no so they agree to the extra days.  So I have had to mediate before with soldiers who felt they were being taken advantage of to ensure that the program stays within the agreed upon days and not expanded without consultation with the unit commander.  The other problem is field time.  Korean teachers have to be aware from the beginning that military duties for soldiers take priority over their volunteer duties with their English program.  So if the program is managed well, it is definitely a good thing for everyone involved, but mismanagement could lead to some hurt feelings and missed expectations.

Anyway, I’m glad the Korea Herald ran the story.  Will many Koreans read about this?  Probably not because not many Koreans read the Korean Herald.  I wish more stories like this would make it in the bigger papers like the Chosun, Joong Ang, and Donga Ilbos.  You will read in these papers though about the next big GI crime case thats for sure.

President Bush last year began efforts to encourage nations allied with the US like South Korea to join NATO.  Now the US Congress is making the same efforts to expand NATO globally:

NATO should seriously consider expanding into a global alliance including democratic countries such as Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Israel, a senior member of Congress said on Friday.

Rep. Tom Lantos, a California Democrat, noted some non-member countries have carried big responsibilities as partners with the 26-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

This is just another example of how little the US government understands the Korean peninsula just like the CSIS report released last month suggests.

Why would Korea want to join NATO in the first place?  What benefits would Korea get out of it that it isn’t already getting from the US-ROK Alliance?  NATO membership would just mean more global responsibilities for South Korea, would piss off China, the lunatic left in South Kora, backed by their North Korean puppet masters would come out in full force against it, and NATO membership would give no financial benefits to the country.

Basic Information

• Name: The Battle of Uijeongbu Memorial
• Where: Uijeongbu, South Korea
• More Information: Wikipedia

Narrative

Wars are often filled with lots of “what ifs” and the Korean War was no different. One of these “what ifs” was a little known battle in the opening days of the war outside of the city of Uijongbu. Uijongbu is located about 20 kilometers north of the South Korean capitol of Seoul and is the primary transit point to reach the city from the north. The battle for this city would decide if the nation’s capitol would fall to the North Korean invaders 57 years ago.

Uijongbu 57 Years Ago. Highway 3 is the road running north and Highway 43 runs northeast

On June 25, 1950, the North Korean (NK) 3rd Division crossed the DMZ and battled the ROK Army 2nd Division in the Pocheon area which lies 25 kilometers Northeast of Uijongbu up highway 43.  The NK 4th Division moved south of the DMZ and fought the ROK 7th Division just North of Dongducheon in the vicinity of Soyosan mountain which is the mountain that lies to the north of today’s American Army base Camp Casey. The ROK 7th Division was able to cause heavy casualties on the NK 4th Div. as they withdrew South from Soyosan to Dongducheon, and then to Deokjong. The ROK Army at the time did not have the man power, tanks, or equipment the North Koreans had. Never the less the ROK 7th Div. continued to put up a stingy defense as they withdrawed South towards Uijongbu along Highway 3.

In the above map you can see Highway 3 and Highway 43 running south where the ROK Army has defensive positions lining each side of both highways all the way to Uijongbu.

Meanwhile the ROK 2nd Div. withdrew from Pocheon after they were actually able to get the NK 3rd Div. to momentarily withdraw from Pocheon. The surviving elements of the ROK 2nd Div. took up positions in hilly terrain overlooking the highway 43 approach to Uijongbu. The hills were defended by two battalions of ROK 2nd Div. infantry soldiers and were facing an entire advancing NK 3rd Div. reinforced with T-34 tanks.

The plan was to have the ROK 7th and 2nd Divisions counterattack and stop the North Korean advance before it reached Uijongbu. The ROK 2nd Div. was to counterattack from their high ground overlooking Highway 43 and the ROK 7th Div. was to counterattack from their high ground just North of Uijongbu over looking Highway 3. However, the ROK 2nd Div. never counterattacked and stayed in positions as the North Koreans brought their armored column at them. The ROK soldiers fired artillery at the T-34s but it had no effect. The tanks were actually so unconcerned about the ROK defense that they just simply drove right by them into Uijongbu. The North Korean infantry following behind the tanks eventually began to engage the 2nd Div. soldiers. Once engaged the soldiers began to retreat further into the country side and melt away. The NK 3rd Div. now had an easy path into Uijongbu and shed very little blood to gain it.

Uijongbu as seen one year after the end of the Korean War.  Picture from the qsl.net site which has many great historic pictures of Korea.

The NK 4th Div. on the other hand had shed much blood in their fight with the stingy ROK 7th Div. as they fought down the Highway 3 corridor. However, with North Korean tanks now in their rear due to the collapse of the ROK 2nd Div. the 7th never got a chance to launch a counterattack to destroy the NK 4th Div. Instead they had to withdraw to the Southern end of Uijongbu where they began to engage both the NK 4th and 3rd Divisions. The 7th Div. could not hold up against such an onslaught and withdrew from Uijongbu. The North Koreans now had Uijongbu and a clear path to Seoul. The North Koreans eventually captured Seoul two days later and had destroyed 60% of the ROK Army in the process.

In the above graphic you can see where the memorial along Highway 43 stands today just northeast of Uijongbu. You can also see how the North Korean tanks just simply drove right through the ROK Army defenders on the hill and into Uijongbu.

Uijongbu During the Korean War

Uijongbu as seen in 2007. 

I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if the ROK 2nd Div. hadn’t collapsed and counterattacked from their positions instead of retreating? General Lee who commanded the Division is on record as saying that he did not execute the counterattack plan because his reinforcements had not arrived and he would of taken great losses during any counterattack. So rather then see himself and his men die in battle they felt they could not win, they retreated. If the 2nd could of held its line, the ROK 7th would of surely held its line against the NK 4th Div. who they had inflicted heavy casualties on. By holding the line one more day reinforcements would of come from further South to shore up the front line.

The collapse of the ROK 2nd Division ended up being the last straw that broke the camels back because over in the Munsan corridor to the West of Uijongbu the legendary Korean General Paik Sun Yup was holding his line in the vicinity of the Imjim River and Pukhan mountain. General Paik is regularly an honored guest at USFK functions and a person I have had the pleasure to meet. The man is literally the living embodiment of Korea’s modern history.

During the early days of the Korean War the then Colonel Paik was was the commander of the ROK 1st Div. The 1st Div. was the only division to stop the North Korean advance. However, with the collapse of the 2nd Division, Seoul would fall on the 4th day of the invasion and the ROK 1st Div. was now surrounded on three sides and forced to withdraw across the Han River leaving behind all their heavy equipment and only bringing what they could carry with them across the river.

If the ROK 2nd would of held the entire western front line could of possibly held. Additionally the hasty capture of Seoul caused the Han River bridges to be prematurely destroyed trapping much of the withdrawing ROK Army units such as the 7th Div. North of the Han River. Much of the equipment and soldiers of these units ended up captured and killed by the North Koreans. This rapid destruction of the ROK Army would eventually lead to the withdrawal to the Pusan Perimeter where the UN backed American military eventually intervened with enough combat power to stabilize the front lines. The stablized lines allowed General Douglas MacArthur to execute his famous Incheon Landing Operation and with it the destruction of the North Korean military. But what if the front lines were stabilized in the vicinity of Seoul when the American and UN forces intervened? Could have the American and UN forces crushed the North Koreans quick enough before China had a chance to prepare their forces to intervene in Korea? Who knows but it is interesting to think about the possibilities.

Today the site where the ROK 2nd Div. had their defensive positions is now commemorated with a very large memorial recognizing the war dead from the 2nd Div. during the early days of the war. The memorial is actually quite beautiful and well maintained. It is definitely a worthy tribute to remember the division’s war dead. However, every time I think about the ROK 2nd Div. even at the memorial, I can’t help but think of, what if.

Memorial located on the hill commemorating the Battle of Uijongbu

Journalist Norimitsu Onishi has been very diligent in featuring articles about North Korean defectors in the New York Times.  Today his latest article has been published which portrays another example of the alienation North Korean defectors feel once they arrive in South Korea:

“Everything’s about money here,” he said, dragging on a Dunhill Slim, a popular cigarette here. “You go to work in the morning — you can’t even take phone calls on your cell at work — then you go home and go to sleep. In North Korea, there is a fence around people to control them. But it’s very collective, so people help one another out. In that system, people do find ways to have meaningful relations with one another.”

As with many North Koreans, Mr. Lee’s nostalgia about the North increased in direct proportion with his sense of alienation in the South. At a small noodle shop, he asked the owner to turn on the fan but got only a puzzled look because he referred to it with a word used only in the North.  <…>

“It was so hard to get here,” he said. “Before, I thought that once I got to South Korea, everything would be all right. But now I know that I’ve just opened the front gate and come in. The journey’s just begun.”

South Korea currently has over 10,000 North Korean defectors living in the country and the alienation of North Koreans in South Korean society is a common problem for them.  Can you imagine what it will be like for South Korea if it has to absorb 23 million North Koreans if the North was to collapse if the country has a hard time absorbing 10,000 defectors?

Despite this fact it seems little attention is made into developing successful programs to help North Korean defectors learn job skills and educate themselves.  They are treated as nothing more than another 3D worker in Korea.  Treating 23 million North Koreans one day as nothing more than 3D workers will lead to disastrous consequences.

The two USFK dependents involved in last April’s taxi cab knifing incident in Waegwon has gone to trial and the teens deny stabbing the driver:

Both defendants said they had been drinking in Waegwon bars that night and were headed by taxi to the train station so the younger teen could catch a train home.

The driver, Park Sang-hui, took a wrong turn, and when the teens assumed he was trying to cheat them on the fare they told him to stop and got out. When they realized they didn’t have money for the fare, they ran.

Park said he parked the taxi and went looking for the teens on scooter.

The teens said they didn’t realize it was Park who had gotten off a scooter, grabbed Banks by his collar, struck him and said, “Money! Money!” They said they thought they were being robbed.

The younger defendant tried to push Park away from his friend but another South Korean man joined the fray.

Banks said he pulled the knife to defend himself but stressed he never stabbed the man.

First of all I just have to wonder how the heck these two were out at 2AM drinking at bars to begin with?  Secondly, you do not pull out a knife to defend yourself in South Korea.  Pulling out a knife is the equivalent of pulling out a gun in the United States on someone.  How do you think the courts in the US would look at someone who pulled out a gun over a $2.50 taxi fare and accidentally shot the cab driver?

That is how the South Korean court is going to look at this case with the soldier pulling out the knife.  The fact he is denying it despite eyewitness testimony and the fact the cab driver has an eight in gash in his stomach is only going to make things worse for him and hopefully he sees some good jail time for it.

I you want to read another example of what happens when you pull out a knife in Korea I highly recommend everyone read about the “Shinchon Massacre” to really understand how as a foreigner in Korea you have no expectation of self defense.

You can read more about this over at Lost Nomad as well.

Reading the blotter incidents in Stars and Stripes at times can be real comedy, especially when it involves the PATRIOT guys down south:

A Camp Carroll soldier was sentenced Friday to six months in confinement for drunk and disorderly conduct, disobeying an order and destroying government property.

Pvt. Darrell Tyrone of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment, pleaded guilty to all charges except one specification of failure to obey an order. He was found not guilty of that specification.

The charges stemmed from different incidents, according to court testimony.

On April 1, Tyrone “kicked up a ruckus” with Korean National Police during an off-base incident, defense attorney Capt. Patrick Davis told Stars and Stripes. Davis said a military policeman testified earlier in the day that Tyrone had kicked and spat at the Korean police and at some point tried to set his own pants on fire, but that his client said he was too drunk to remember the incident.

Some may remember that 2-1 ADA was the unit that got kicked out of Gwangju because of all the anti-US protests which were helped by idiots committing crimes there such as the infamous Gwangju Gochu-gate Incident.  Two of the people involved in that incident received Article 15 punishment and were not identified in the Stars and Stripes.  I have to wonder if our man in question here Private Tyrone had any involvement in Gwangju Gochu-gate as well because he sure does meet the stupidity qualifications to be involved in something like that.

You can read more about Private Hot Pants over at Lost Nomad.

I was watching KBS1 last night and they had did an uncover report on how cab drivers in Seoul particularly at Incheon Airport were overcharging foreigners.  The cab drivers had found techniques to rig their meters so that when a foreigner takes a cab they would hit a button that would speed up the meter to charge the foreigner more than a Korean customer who would better know how much the cab fare from the airport should cost.

KBS pointed out that a cab fare from the airport into Seoul should cost about 48,500 won while the cab driver they did the uncover report on cost 67,500 won.  A cab fare that is 19,000 won more expensive converts to about $20 US dollars more in expense for foreigners.  The report also had interviews with foreigners in Seoul who told other stories of how the cab drivers try to rip them off.

I have never taken a taxi from the airport, I always use the airport bus or the subway train that is now available as well.  So I can’t really add any personal experiences about the airport taxi drivers, but the fact that they are ripping off foreigners does not surprise me.  Also with Seoul taxi drivers I have never had any problems with as well.  I’m sure there are crooked cab drivers there, but personally I have had no problems which I think suggests that only a really small minority are crooked.

The only places I have had regular issues with taxi drivers are in Uijongbu and Dongducheon where they love to play the game of not running the meter and than charging GIs an overpriced fare at the end of the ride.  A tactic I used to combat this is to simply not pay the cab driver.  If he doesn’t run the meter it is a free ride.  The cab drivers scream and yell and one time a cab driver tried to get the police stationed in front of Camp Red Cloud to arrest me.  I simply showed the policemen the meter which had zero on it and the policemen had no issues and let me go into the camp.

I even had one cab driver stop in the middle of the ride and stop the meter and then try to negotiate an overpriced fair with me and my buddy.  If we didn’t agree we would have to get out of the cab in an area where he knew we would have to walk a long ways to find another cab.  I just simply started writing down his information from the panel in the taxi.  He asked me what I was doing and I told him I was going to contact his taxi company as well as file a complaint with the local authorities.  The taxi driver started the meter again really quick and got us to our destination in no time.

The cab drivers in Uijongbu and Dongducheon is something I wish KBS or someone in the Korean media would do an expose on because they regularly screw over soldiers and really portray a bad image of Korea to the soldiers serving in the 2nd Infantry Division.

I saw this while driving through Pyeongtaek the other day. No word yet if their are any white cops as well.

Seriously I may need to start a category dedicated to the numerous leftist plants and fraudulent claims of being in the military because here is another one that has been exposed by Greyhawk this time.

Our leftist plant in question is Private Marc Train. After deserting his unit before deploying to Iraq he has become the anti-war movement’s latest hero. Our newest anti-war hero in all of his published accounts pretty much covers every leftist talking point since the war began. I don’t think he left anything out at all. This guy has even gone further then other leftist plants and converted to Islam as well (see comments section of Milblogs post here).

The only problem with the anti-war movement’s latest hero, as Greyhawk very clearly pointed out, is that Private Train was already part of the leftist anti-war movement before he even enlisted. Guess who he was affiliated with? Well our friends from Appeal for Redress who I and other exposed before. You can read my two postings here and here on Appeal for Redress and their Amnesty International plants, George Soros connection, and their promotion by the largest liberal public relations firm in the country, Fenton Communications.

Oh by the way the Appeal for Courage site which was set up to counter the Appeal for Redress site 6 months after Redress was launched. Despite its late start the site overtook Redress’ petition signatures in just a few short weeks and has continued its surge past Appeal for Redress which as of this writing has 3,214 signatures compared to Redress’ 2003 signatures. Yet Redress continues to make headlines while Appeal for Courage makes none. I guess it helps to have big liberal money and Fenton Communications on your side to make media news but it definitely hasn’t helped them gain signatures.

So everyone can now add Marc Train to the infamous leftist list that includes the names like Hutto, Burnett, Key, Massey, Macbeth, Randall, etc. etc. The politicization of the military continues.