Another US Army camp in South Korea is ready to close it’s gates for the last time:

The U.S. military plans a retreat ceremony later this week at Camp Hialeah to mark the close of the post, which has been part of the American military presence on the peninsula for more than five decades.  The ceremony is set for 4 p.m. Thursday.

Located in Busan¿s Nam-gu district, the 133-acre installation served as the main receiving point for supplies, equipment and other goods slated for delivery to U.S. military installations in South Korea.

It was also at the core of the U.S. militarys operations in Busan and provided administrative, medical and other services for U.S. personnel at the Pusan Storage Facility, Pier 8, the Defense Reutilization and Management Office, and Gimhae Air Base, a South Korean air force installation.

The post¿s closing comes as part of an agreement between the U.S. and South Korea called the Amended Land Partnership Plan.

Camp Hialeah is one of the oldest US camps on the Korean peninsula and has in fact been operating since 1950 with the break out of the Korean War.  Camp Hialeah served as the main logistical point during the war to bring supplies into Korea and pushed to the front line troops on the Pusan Perimeter.  Since the Korean War it has remained the first logistical point for supplies coming into Korea for USFK units.

What will be interesting to see is if and when USFK will formerly hand over the facility to the Korean government due to the fraudulent environmental issue between the Korean government and USFK.

I wrote in a posting a year ago that the Korean government at least owes the United States military an honorable face saving redeployment of forces from the peninsula. My argument centers around that if the Korean government wanted USFK to reduce or redeploy forces from the peninsula it should be done in a face saving way in which it doesn’t appear that the US is retreating from South Korea due to rabid anti-Americanism running out of control in the country. The US should be able to redeploy forces off the peninsula with honor; however the ruling South Korean government thinks otherwise:

Seoul also insists on the loaded term ¿withdrawal¿ as the official designation for the project. “Since the issue first came up, the U.S. has asked Korea not use the word ‘withdrawal’,” the government official said. “But Cheong Wa Dae at the urging of the National Security Council has insisted.¿

The above comment was made in reference to the negotiations currently going on between the US and Korean governments over the handover of war time operational control of the ROK military and the US force reductions on the peninsula. The current Korean government is openly anti-American and seems determined to make the reduction of USFK an embarrassing “withdrawal” for the United States with public comments from the government and the Korean President Roh Moo-hyun about the US using failed policy with North Korea, encouragement of anti-Americanism in Korea, delay of the Camp Humphreys camp consolidation plan with violent anti-US protests, giving government subsidies to these violent anti-US groups, the fraudulent environmental issue, distribution of pro-North Korea propaganda in Seoul, and the denying of a bombing range for the US Air Force for a few quick recent examples off the top of my head.

All of this is maybe reaching a point where the US government may have had enough:

The U.S. is playing tit-for-tat by offering to hand over wartime operational control of troops to Korea at what experts say is the unfeasibly early date of 2009-2010, a high-ranking official speculated Monday. Seoul aims at the ¿withdrawal¿ of wartime control of Korean troops, as it is officially termed, in six years¿ time. “Perhaps this is a counterattack motivated by anger because [U.S. authorities] feel Korea is seeking the 2012 withdrawal for political reasons,” the official said.

A Korean source quoted a U.S. official as saying in recent bilateral discussions that Korea will not realistically be ready to exercise independent control of its forces even by 2012, but since that deadline appeared to be politically motivated, there was no reason for Washington to cling to military logic either.

The above statement comes on the heels of the uni-lateral handover of vacated USFK camps plus an announcement today of further USFK troop reductions below the 25,000 number agreed upon with the South Korean government:

The United States will lower troop levels in South Korea beyond a previously agreed reduction to 25,000, but the cut will not be “substantial,” a senior defense official said on Monday. “As the adjustments (in capabilities) take place, there will be a reduction in the number of U.S. forces located in the Republic of Korea beyond the level of 25,000 that we’ve currently agreed to,” the official said.

What the current South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun is trying to do is score domestic points with his political base in South Korea for standing up to the US on what are basically hypocritical and demagogued issues, while at the same time avoiding the fall out of a USFK pull out during his presidency. The Korean president is limited to one 5 year term and next year President Roh’s term ends and with approval ratings in the 20 percentile he will probably leave office as the greatest lame duck president in Korean history. His unpopularity will probably open the door for a South Korean conservative to regain the presidency.

However, if President Roh can keep the operational control handover date at 2012, that would mean the possible conservative president in power at the time will be blamed for when the country’s economy bottoms out from the USFK pull out. A pull out does not happen over night. It will probably be a 2 year process which if the operational control happens in 2012 that means 2010 the first US forces will start to leave the country, right in the middle of the presidency of the next Korean president. This would open the door for another Korean liberal to take power in the 2012 election if that president is held responsible for the country’s economic woes. However, if the hand over happens in 2009 that means the first forces will start pulling out next year, during President Roh’s term in office. Any bottoming out of the Korean economy will fall squarely on his shoulders and will forever be his legacy as he leaves office.

The old guard of Korea’s security understands very well the game that President Roh is playing and have now begun mobilizing to stop the hand over of operational control from the US to Korea:

A group of senior military experts including 13 former defense ministers have urged Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung to stop seeking the return of wartime operational control from the U.S. The meeting came at Yoon’s invitation on Wednesday.

It is rare for the contents of such a meeting to be made public, especially when it focuses on a call to end a core government project.

The group included Lee Sang-hoon and other former defense ministers as well as retired Gen. Paik Sun-yup and former vice defense minister Lee Jung-rin. They said now is not the time to reclaim wartime operational control of troops but rather the moment to strengthen the Korea-U.S. alliance.

These old defense ministers fought and lived through the Korean War plus helped build the country into the economic miracle that is today, knowing full well it would not have been possible without the assistance of the United States. So now they see one Korean presidency undoing the 50 years of work they have done to keep the US-Korea alliance strong and beneficial to the economy and most importantly the security of South Korea. In fact this is the advice that these ministers have given to USFK officials:

¿I¿ve sought a meeting with Gen. [Bell], the commander of the U.S. Forces Korea. If I meet him, I¿ll suggest that he ignores what the South Korean government says.¿

These statements have even led some to speculate that South Korea may be headed for a military coup if the current Roh policies remain in effect. Military coups have happened before in South Korea so it wouldn’t be stretch to say it couldn’t happen again. For the sake of South Korean democracy let’s hope this doesn’t occur and that these issues can be worked out before something drastic such as a military coup happens.

Obviously it is interesting times in South Korea and the coming months are really going to shape the future of Korea for decades to come. The South Korean media has now circled the wagons and have become extremely critical of the Korean president with articles such this, this, this, and this. All these competing dynamics in South Korea means that for USFK, leaving the country with honor is easier said than done.

However, shouldn’t liberation from the Japanese after World War II, 36,000 lives lost during the Korean War, and over 50 years of stability and economic development on the Korean peninsula provided by the United States be at least worth an honorable redeployment of US forces from the Korean peninsula? Is that asking too much?

This is pretty good advice:

U.S. Forces Korea personnel should avoid protests during a major training exercise to begin later this month, according to a military news release.

¿Officials expect both registered and unregistered gatherings¿ during the Aug. 21-Sept. 1 command post exercise dubbed Ulchi Focus Lens, the release stated.

No gatherings were registered formally as of late last week, according to the release.

Military personnel were urged to follow force-protection guidance that directs them to avoid ¿large civil gatherings and interaction with protestors.¿ Civilian employees, contractors and family members were urged to follow the same precautions, according to the release.

There is no reason for anyone to be any where near these protests.  Those not familiar with protests in Korea, which will be primarily people who come from the states to participate in the UFL exercise, are the ones that USFK really needs to get a hold of and educate about these protesters, in order to avoid any incidents from happening.

Here is a rundown of scheduled protests:

• Aug. 8: Civil gathering at Camp Walker; 2 p.m. civil gathering in front of Kunsan Air Base.
• Aug. 10: Civil gathering at 3 p.m. to oppose the Foreign Trade Agreement; location unknown, but it could be Suwon Air Base.
• Aug. 11: 1 p.m. anti-U.S. and anti-war march and proclamation for unification of the Koreas; location unknown; 7 p.m. anti-U.S. cultural festival, possibly in Gwanghhamun.
• Aug. 12: 10 a.m. anti-U.S. civil gathering in front of Pyeongtaek Train Station with 2,000 attendees expected; 7 p.m. march from the station toward Daecuh-ri for a candlelight cultural festival.
• Aug. 13: 2 p.m. civil gathering in front of Camp Red Cloud; 6 p.m. unification festival at Yonsei University, 4,000 attendees expected.
• Aug. 14: 2 p.m. civil gathering in front of Yongsan Garrison or U.S. Embassy, 4,000 attendees expected.
• Aug. 15: 10 a.m. anti-Japan civil gathering in front of the Japanese Embassy, 2,000 attendees expected; 3 p.m. unification celebration march from Daehakro to Kyobo Park, 30,000 attendees expected.

Here is the understatement of the month; that Japanese and South Koreans don’t trust each other:

A record-high 59 percent of Japanese believe ties with South Korea have been strained in the past year, and more than half of Japanese regard the country as untrustworthy, according to a joint survey by The Yomiuri Shimbun and major South Korean daily Hankook Ilbo.

Regarding the current state of bilateral relations, 36 percent of Japanese respondents gave positive responses, a plunge of 24 percentage points from a similar survey conducted last year. However, the proportion of Japanese gloomy about ties with Seoul leaped 24 percentage points to 59 percent, the highest figure in five surveys conducted since 1995.

Here is what the survey determined of what South Koreans think of the Japanese:

According to the survey, many South Koreans were critical of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s visits to Yasukuni Shrine and most were pessimistic that the countries could resolve their dispute over the Takeshima islets (called Dokdo in South Korea). The Yasukuni and Takeshima issues appear to have cast a shadow over public sentiment in the two countries and tainted perceptions of the other, according to the survey.

In late June and early July, 3,000 eligible Japanese and 1,000 eligible South Korean voters were surveyed by the newspapers. Of the Japanese, 1,867, or 62.2 percent, gave valid responses.

In South Korea, only 12 percent of respondents thought bilateral ties were good while 87 percent said the relationship was strained. The figures were almost unchanged from the previous survey.

My only questions with these results are, who the hell are the 12% who think things are going well for the Korea-Japan relationship? I haven’t met a Korean yet that thinks relations are good between Japan and Korea, but according to this survey they are out there.

Read the rest of the article for more survey results that pretty much confirm everything you already suspected about various issues between Japan and Korea.

This is weird:

A South Korean soldier has been found dead while on daytime duty at a unit in Paju, north of Seoul, the Army said Friday.

On Thursday, Pfc. Jeon Sang-hu, 20, was discovered bleeding from the chest from a gunshot wound at a guard post, according to his senior partner. Corporal Kim Hyeon-jun, who found the body, immediately reported it to the unit headquarters, an Army official said.

Hopefully they find out what happened.

Does this sound familiar to anyone stationed in 2ID?:

Soldiers¿ duties are being affected because of obstetrics and gynecology appointments at Yongsan Garrison¿s 121st General Hospital, a sergeant told camp officials.

¿I find myself adjusting my schedule just so (female soldiers) can go down to Yongsan,¿ Choi said.

That trip can take about two hours each way, depending on traffic. Most soldiers also must factor in bus schedules, waiting at the clinic and the appointment itself, he said.

Choi said he¿s had to shift other soldiers¿ schedules to make up for the lost personnel.

Arranging for an appointment down at 121 is basically giving the soldier the day off.  The clever soldiers try to schedule the appointments on Fridays or Mondays in order to give themselves a three day weekend and a early start on their weekend down in Seoul.

Keep in mind it isn’t just female soldiers going to gynecology appointments.  There are just as many males who may or may not have legitimate back, knee, shoulder, etc. injuries that are bothering them and appointments are scheduled for them down in Yongsan to see a specialist there.  It got so bad in my unit that our Battalion Sergeant Major took a trip down to Yongsan on a Friday to see what was going on and of course found soldiers in the PX.  Of course they said they were waiting for the bus, which the last bus had left 10 minutes ago, so they of course said they lost track of time.  So draconian measures were implemented to stop the abuse of people milking appointments to Yongsan to get off of work.  So what happened was that the companies could not be released for end of the day formation until everyone on appointment attended the final formation.  You wouldn’t believe how quickly people got back to the unit and the amount of appointments decreased when these people realized the rest of the company was waiting on them to return before they could get off of work.

It would be an interesting study to see how many work hours the Army loses with people attending appointments down in Yongsan.  At least it is finally being addressed, but then again the camp consolidation at Camp Humphreys would solve this problem completely.

Here is a great posting about the excellent work the Canadian military is doing in Afghanistan.  A lot of the idealogues and politicians on each side of the border bash each other over the War on Terror issue; granted the US-Canada relationship has improved recently with the new Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.  However as is usually the case, the reality of the US-Canada relationship is quite different for those who serve in each nation’s armed forces.Canada just a few days had 4 soldiers killed in Afghanistan causing the Canadians to have the second highest total of casualties behind the United States in Afghanistan with a total of 23 Canadians killed in action in Afghanistan.  Despite this Canada continues to maintain 2,300 soldiers fighting the terrorists in Afghanistan.  It is important to remember who America’s real allies are and Canada is definitely one of them.

The invasion of Korean Christians into Afghanistan has now drawn the attention of even Afghan President Hamid Karzai:

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai has ordered the ¿complete expulsion¿ of all Koreans who went there to take part in a ¿peace march¿ organized by an evangelical organization, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. Lee Joon-kyu, the ministry¿s director general in charge of consular affairs, told KBS radio that Kabul informed the Korean Embassy of the decision on Tuesday.

For those not familiar with this issue, over 1,000 Korean proselytizers descended on Afghanistan and some of them have been roughed up and threatened by Afghans opposed to their Christian activities.

Well now this story even gets weirder:

Afghans have taken to the streets against a bizarre ¿peace march¿ planned in the devoutly Muslim nation by hundreds of Korean evangelicals as violence continued unabated in the country. It emerged Thursday that an explosive device was recently discovered in the vest of a Korean aid worker.

Hundreds of students, Islamic clergy and residents protested against the peace march at the Blue Mosque in northern Afghanistan¿s Mazar-i-Sharif on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry officials dispatched to Kabul told the Chosun Ilbo by telephone. “We’ve heard that some in the area were told, `Leave. If you don’t it will be dangerous,¿” one said. Reuters quoted protestors as saying the Afghan government must send the Korean back as they went there to proselytize — a grave offense under Sharia or Islamic law.

Rumors that Korean prostitutes had entered the country and that the Christian groups were carrying ¿giant crosses¿ marching through downtown did little to defuse the situation.

Korean prostitutes in Afghanistan?  I wonder how much a drink for “juicy girl” in Afghanistan costs?

The ROK Army is trying to do their part to improve the sagging birthrate in Korea:

The armed forces are trying to persuade military couples to have more children amid record-low birthrates. Army couples have to move frequently across the country and are separated for long periods, but under new measures they will be able to spend more time together. The Army said Tuesday new personnel management measures being implemented now will allow newlyweds to live together for five years to create a favorable environment where they can give birth and raise children.

Female military personnel can delay moving to newly assigned posts between the second month of pregnancy and six months after giving birth to reduce possible miscarriages and give them a minimal amount of time to take care of their children. Another incentive is giving all military personnel and staff with a third child the option to change their assignment to an area of their choosing. ¿Military couples have a birthrate of 0.83, which is even lower than the nation¿s average of 1.08,¿ a military official said. ¿The new measure will help increase our birthrate and also contribute to improving welfare and boosting morale in our armed forces.¿

Here is an idea, pay the soldiers more so they can afford three kids.

I have to wonder about this thinking.  The Korean government wants operation war time control of the military in the name of “independent defense” despite calls from all of Korea’s past defense ministers claiming that the ROK military is not ready for complete war time control due to a number of capabilities the ROK military does not possess, but the US does.

However, what I find interesting is that the cornerstone of the “independent defense” policy of the current Korean government is that if war did break out the Yankee cavalry will come in and save our asses anyway.  So how is this really “independent defense”?