I say send them to the ROK prison in Choenan with haste:

South Korea ?Prosecutors asked Friday for sentences ranging from three to seven years in prison for the five 2nd Infantry Division soldiers accused of robbing a taxi driver on Christmas and stuffing him in his car trunk.

Pvt. Kidrem Cortez Porter, 21, was most responsible and deserves seven years in prison, said prosecutor Chu Hae-yun. Porter already has been sentenced to 1? years in prison for his role in a March 2005 robbery.

Porter is a disgrace to the uniform, hopefully the Korean courts max him out.

One of the best travel destinations in all of Korea is the beautiful Cheju-do Island located 100km south of the Korean peninsula in the Pacific Ocean. The island is filled with sites and is a perfect location for touring by car with it’s wide open landscapes and non-crowded roads. With so many great rides to choose from on the island I will begin with the easiest one. A quick and easy route to view some of the great sites on the island is by taking highway 97 south from Cheju City on the island’s north coast, all the way to the Cheju Folk Village on the south coast of the island.

Highway 97 skirts the massive Hallasan mountain thus avoiding any of the steep climbs and treacherous curves on other roads that cross the island. On a clear day you can get some great views of Hallasan to the west along with views of the multiple parasitic volcanic cones that dot the island to the east of the road. Some of these parasitic cones have pathways that allow you to climb up them if you have the time to stop.

Also along the route you will see lots of colorful flowers that Cheju is well known for along with Cheju’s famous horses. The horses are small and sturdy and are descended from when the Mongols controlled the island centuries ago. There are ranches along the route that offers rides for a fee to those inclined to try out these steeds.

The road ultimately ends on the south coast at the Cheju Folk Village. The folk village is a well designed re-creation of a traditional Cheju-do village. The people on Cheju-do have a distinctly different culture and language from main land Koreans and this village gives you some insight into those differences, not to mention some great Cheju-do cuisine. There is no better “samgeopsul” than from the black pigs of Cheju-do.

From the folk village you can either travel west on Highway 12 to Seogwipo for the night or go west on highway 12 to take you back around the i

This post from the Marmot about Japan’s “invasion” plans of the Dokto islands has to be the funniest post I have read all year. For those in America and across the globe that haven’t heard about the Dokto Islands dispute (If you haven’t, don’t worry the Dokto Riders are coming to a town near you), Japan and Korea have long argued over ownership of these two worthless piece of rocks. However, the squabble IMHO is not about the rocks themselves, but about fishing rights. The Dokto Islands extend Korea’s exclusive economic zone of the surrounding ocean for Korean fishermen.

Japanese fishermen dispute this economic zone and politicians back in Japan eager to gain a voting block take small measures like declaring “Takeshima Day” (the Japanese name for Dokto) in order to show solidarity with the fishermen. I think that the Japanese fishing industry feels that if they keep putting pressure on the Koreans over Dokto they will receive a favorable fishing treaty. Dokto is currently occupied by a small Korean military garrison and patroled with Korean naval destroyers even though there is no chance that Japan will seize the islands by force. This is of course 2006, not 1941.

The current flare up is over a research vessel that is going to be traveling in waters near Dokto:

Korea has vowed to stop a plan by Japanese maritime authorities to dispatch a research vessel into Korea’s exclusive economic zone near Dokdo for a hydrographical survey. Korea has not been informed of a move some say is a deliberate ploy to heighten tensions in the sensitive area………………………….

The government has called in Japanese Ambassador Shotaro Oshima to register a strong protest. “Trespassing into our EEZ without permission is an act of unannounced incursion,” Vice Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan was quoted as telling the envoy. “If Japan follows through with these plans, we will do everything in our power to stop you.” The ambassador responded the area Tokyo intends to survey falls within Japan?s EEZ. However, this would only be the case if the Dokdo islets were Japanese territory, in which case the line between Ulleung Island and Dokdo would mark the limit of both countries? EEZ.

I wonder if the Korean military contingent on Dokto are practicing recall and battle drills to prepare for this invasion of hostile scientists? These scientists could just be a cover though for this contingent of Japanese SDF Marines that were trained in amphibious operations by the US Marine Corps. If these scientists do land on Dokto the soldiers can call up for reinforcements with their cellphones and they could always sic these dogs on them as well.

Dokto Forever!

The Korean authorities now want to talk to the anti-US hate groups and farmers that are halting the Camp Humphreys expansion project:

The South Korean Ministry of National Defense wants to open lines of communication with protesters with whom they?ve battled over contested lands outside of the U.S. Army?s Camp Humphreys.

The goal, said MND spokesman An Jung-hoon, is to persuade farmers still on the land to vacate 2,328 acres the South Korean government purchased to allow for the expansion of Humphreys. Under a plan between South Korea and the United States, the camp will triple in size in coming years and become the U.S. military?s chief installation in South Korea.

How about arresting them when they do things like this:

South Korean riot police have skirmished with the protesters several times in recent months. On Friday, MND-contracted workers poured cement into two of the three canals that bring water to the fields where the farmers want to plant rice. Several protesters were injured and several arrested during the clashes on Friday, police said.

The protesters were able to break up the cement over the weekend, MND officials confirmed, and the water was flowing again.

They assault policemen and then destroy the cement walls that the government spent thousands of dollars for private contractors to build and the government just wants to talk to them? How about talking to them in jail where the violent instigators belong? The Camp Humphreys expansion is supposed to be complete by 2008; what a joke, at this rate the government will be lucky to have the land secured by 2008.

Unfortunately the environment of a tour in Korea is a breeding ground for these types of things to happen:

The former first sergeant of a military police company here was demoted one rank after pleading guilty Wednesday to fraternization and making a false official statement, according to proceedings at his court-martial.

Master Sgt. Glen E. Gibbons was demoted to sergeant first class and must submit his resignation from the U.S. Army within 90 days, according to a plea agreement. He was the first sergeant of the 142nd Military Police Company, 94th Military Police Battalion, 8th Military Police Brigade.

Gibbons, who has served more than 18 years in the Army, also had faced charges of adultery with two different soldiers and one charge of cruelty and maltreatment. In that charge, he was accused of threatening to transfer a female soldier if she continued to talk about their relationship. He pleaded not guilty to those charges, the military prosecutor dismissed them and the judge accepted the plea.

A first sergeant should know way better than this:

On Wednesday, Gibbons admitted in court he let a platonic relationship with a junior female soldier grow from a mentorship into a close friendship that included giving her rides on off-duty time, letting the soldier and her boyfriend stay at his off-base home to avoid curfew violations and sharing a room with her on a group vacation to Thailand.

(…)

Gibbons said that during the time they spent together ? volunteering for a youth sports program, working out, shopping out of town and escorting her to a modeling photography shoot ? he didn?t feel he was doing anything beyond helping a younger soldier as he had been helped earlier in his career. As the rumors grew, Gibbons said he later realized there was an impact on the company.
How is taking a soldier to a modeling shoot considered mentoring? If you want to mentor her, help her practice for a promotion board or train on CTT skills, you don’t take a trip to Thailand with her. Some how I think he was doing a lot more than “helping” a young soldier out.

I have seen this type of scenario play out before where you have a senior leader who may either be recently divorced or away from his family for a year in Korea and thinks they can get away with fooling around with a younger soldier. The problem in Korea is that the soldiers live on top of each other here 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, so they gossip all the time which creates a huge rumor mill which often exposes leaders that engage in this activity. I have seen senior leaders ruin their careers just by creating the perception of a relationship even though they didn’t do anything sexually with the soldier but the perception was there which is enough to get you in trouble.

Leaders, especially a first sergeant lose all creditability when they fraternize with soldiers and the Army is serious about prosecuting these cases. This guy lost more than just his rank but also he was under two years from hitting his 20 year retirement window. Now that is all gone because he wanted to be unprofessional and fraternize with the soldiers. What makes this even worse is that the guy is an MP responsible for upholding military laws. Stupid.

Hines Ward to Judge Miss USA Pageant
Hines Ward is one busy man this off season:

Hines Ward, crowned MVP of the Super Bowl, will help pick the belle of the ball as one of nine judges on the celebrity panel for the Miss USA pageant April 21 in Baltimore.

Ward, who returns this week from a 10-day trip to his native South Korea, joins another athlete as a judge, speed skater and U.S. Olympic triple-medal winner Chad Hedrick, in the Donald Trump production that will be televised live on NBC from 9 to 11 p.m. that night.

Ward and the other celebrity judges will help pick the winning contestant from a group of 15 selected by preliminary judges.

The winner will represent the United States at the Miss Universe 2006 contest later this year.

To bad they didn’t pick Apolo Anton Ohno to judge as well? Hines and Apolo could share some really opposite end of the spectrum stories about Korea. They could especially swap stories about being met at the airport by riot police.

Hat Tip: Commenter,

It looks like my prior theory was correct, the crazy ajumma did start the fire:

A 57-year-old South Korean woman faces arson charges after confessing to investigators late last week that she started last month?s fire on a U.S. military compound next to Yongsan Garrison, according to local police.

Kweon Jung-ja told South Korean police she went through an unlocked gate onto a U.S. military compound ? which houses the Korean Service Corps ? sometime before the March 16 fire, according to Oh Sang-seok, leader of the violent crime investigation team at Yongsan-gu police station.

Oh said the woman told police she entered an open-air carpentry area on the compound, found some work gloves on a pile of lumber and lit them with a cigarette lighter.

Correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t paying off ransoms only encourage more kidnappings?:

The South Korean government said Thursday it will work to bring back South Korean prisoners of war and abduction victims from North Korea even if it means paying off the communist state, but said there will be no immediate changes to its North Korea policy.

The remarks came one day after blood samples from Kim Hye-gyeong, the daughter of a Japanese citizen abducted to the North, arrived here for tests that could verify Tokyo’s claims that the daughter’s father may be a South Korean abducted by the communist state.

I have to agree with Nomad, when will these guys ever learn?:

An Air Force staff sergeant with six years of service was sentenced Monday to one year in prison and a bad-conduct discharge after pleading guilty to bilking the Air Force out of thousands of dollars in housing allowances.

Staff Sgt. Lanny Marsh of the 51st Munitions Squadron also was sentenced to reduction to the military?s lowest pay grade, E-1, in a court-martial before Air Force Lt. Col. Eric Dillow.

Dillow sentenced him after Marsh pleaded guilty to stealing $13,500 in basic allowance for housing, or BAH, payments and making a false official statement. The BAH fraud began early last year and continued until almost the end of the year.

What city did this dope pick for his BAH you ask? Just guess:

Auditors grew suspicious of Marsh?s claims and alerted Osan-based agents of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. The agents had their OSI counterparts in the San Francisco area check the address at which Marsh claimed his family was living.

?No one there knew who this Marsh family was,? Meador said.

These people committing BAH fraud are truly idiots when they put San Francisco down for BAH. Putting San Francisco on your finance forms is just like a beacon for CID agents to investigate you because it is the location with the highest BAH rate. To make this guy even look stupider is the fact that the finance people when you inprocess warn you explicitly about BAH fraud and San Francisco in particular. Don’t commit BAH fraud, it just isn’t worth it. Ask this guy.