Tag: Camp Humphreys

Big hat tip to Nomad for pointing out this classic piece of journalism from Oh My News. I have always maintained that Oh My News is way left wing in their writing but this article is just plain kooky. At Camp Humphreys located in Pyeongtaek, South Korea; they have a radar dome that towers over the base because the camp is home to a major airfield shared by both the US and Korean militaries. The Oh My News “reporter” speculates that the radar is actually part of a sinister super secret US “Orwellian” plan to rule the world:

“Its been there about seven or eight years. We have no idea what it is; we just thought it might be a water tank or something. People have said is an oil tank, or some kind of antenna. But why should we even bother to try to figure it out. Isn’t it easier if we just consider it as a big ball? I like it because it makes the scene of our village very familiar from a distance.”

A titan standing 30 meters tall, the “ball” is about eight years old. For the residents living near the field of Daechu-ri, located in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, their lives have revolved around a mysterious ball mounted in the sky, all the while never knowing exactly what it is.

(…)

“Right now, somebody is watching your every movement.” This may sound like something from a science-fiction movies, but instead, it’s real.

In the greatest surveillance effort ever made, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) created a global spy system — codename ECHELON — which captures and analyzes virtually every phone call, fax, email and telex message sent anywhere in the world. ECHELON is controlled by the NSA and operated in conjunction with the Government Communications Head Quarters (GCHQ) of England, the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) of Canada, the Australian Defense Security Directorate (DSD), and the General Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) of New Zealand. These organizations are bound together under a secret 1948 agreement, UKUSA, whose terms and text remain under wraps even today.

I wonder if this super secret 007 golf ball is manned by Elvis and Bigfoot? That is just about as credible a theory as the one put forth by Oh My News. What’s next, an article on the Indianhead statue in front of Camp Casey is actually a US homing beacon for UFO’s to land on the camp and dump flemeldahyde into doo-doo creek thus creating the Lochness Monster of Dongducheon? Just when you thought journalism in Korea couldn’t get any worse, it does. Well it’s good that the “reporter” at least has some serious photographic talent because the pictures in the article are quite good. However, he is going to need that photographic talent in the future because he sure isn’t going to make it as an investigative journalist for much longer unless he writes for the Weekly World News.

The Asia Times has got it wrong beginning with the title: US Feels Sting of South Korean Priest

The US is not the ones feeling the sting of the South Korean priest, the Korean government most notably the Ministry of Defense and the 20 year old mandatory service draftees being assualted by the priests followers are. South Korea has more to lose than the US if the base consolidation plan fails. Failure of this plan would most likely mean the redeployment of at least the 2nd Infantry Division and possibly other elements of USFK. USFK has no intentions of staying in the Yongsan and 2ID footprints for much longer. The loss of USFK means the end to many USFK jobs that South Korean civilians hold along with the loss of international investment once USFK pulls out. Let’s face it, interenational investors feel much more secure in their investments when they know the US military is safeguarding it.

Here is where else the Asia Times is getting it all wrong:

“No US base,” they shout in Korean. “Save our land.”

It is a daily ritual staged in defiance of thousands of South Korean police against a plan to turn the region of rice paddies and orchards into one of America’s largest overseas bases.

The police control the countryside, blocking off traffic, but the farmers cling to this enclave of sturdy brick homes in a standoff that embarrasses the United States and South Korea – and reveals some of the weaknesses in a deteriorating alliance.

It is not the US being embarrassed here. It is the Korean government that is an embarassment. Any government that would allow young mandatory service draftees to be beaten and assaulted like the young men stationed outside Camp Humphreys regularly are is a joke. This is a perfect example of why mandatory service needs to end in Korea. If the government had to worry about reenlisting these guys, I can guarantee they wouldn’t treat them as meat to feed to the protesters to beat on.

Here is something else that really strikes a nerve with me:

The priest, Moon Jeong-hyun, 69, returned here less than a week after holding out for most of a day on the roof of the school building with nine other priests and two National Assembly members defying the riot police, who drove the activists from the building, some of them kicking and screaming.

A distinctive figure with a flowing beard, often seen holding a video camera as he records prayer meetings and confrontations, Moon and his cohorts were promised they would not be arrested before descending down a ladder from the roof on May 4.

The government let this guy go even though he broke the law. This guy is a criminal responsible for the assaults and injuries of many young police officers and soldiers. Here is another criminal that really shouldn’t surprise anyone that was also let go:

Some wonder if the South’s governing Uri Party is actually encouraging the standoff in which an assembly member from the party, Im Jung-in, is playing a leading role.

Im was up on the roof with the priests before they all came down on May 4 – and has appeared again at rallies in the village. He talks frequently on his mobile phone with party officials, and his presence in the village symbolizes support for the farmers and activists in the government.

This is just more evidence of what an embarrassment the current Korean government is. An assembly member from the ruling party is openly endorsing the assault and injury of the nation’s policemen and soldiers. What a disgrace and the Asia Times thinks the US should be embarrassed?

Oh, there is more:

“South and North Korea are reconciling with one another,” says another priest visiting the village. “We don’t need US forces in Korea at all.”

That’s a view that US officials fear may come to dominate the outlook of a South Korea government already seen as left of center as thousands of police face the unpleasant task of finally removing the diehards from their homes – and the troublesome priest from the village chapel.

I’m not sure if ass kissing and appeasement with nothing in return is really reconciliation but apparently the Korean government and the Asia Times thinks so. Also if this person is so bold to say the US is not needed in Korea than he needs to protest his local congressmen instead of attacking soldiers and police officers. Remember Korea has more to lose than US if the base consolidation plan fails.

I knew it was only a matter of time before the anti-US groups protesting the Camp Humphreys expansion would bring up the “environmental damage” that the US causes to the environment in order to further delay the expansion.

Over the years, they had rebuilt their lives and started new farms. But it was difficult with the American base next door. In 2003, I climbed into the area’s irrigation canals with rice farmer Chong Tay Wah. They were filled with untreated oil run-off from the
U.S. base.

“When the water comes from the U.S. base, the river turns black,” he explained, “and when it doesn’t rain much, the water is really, really black. This is the water that we use for our farming. Before, we could fish from the streams, but now we can’t because the fish all smell like oil and they’re black. It was very delicious before. I caught the fish and ate them, but it’s all over now.”

Under the Status of Forces Agreement that governs the American Army in South Korea, the
U.S. military is exempt from most environmental laws.

Rice farmer Cong Taw Wah told me that most of the time the farmers had to clean up after the Army.

“When the oil is released into the stream, we take the oil out of the stream,” he said. “We put on rubber clothes, and we float paper on the stream. Because of the polluted water, when we enter the water we get hurt. It looks like mosquito bites. Our whole leg turns red. Then we burn the paper in a big fire, and the smoke goes up in the air.”

False information being put out once again.  I don’t know if I can put this anymore clearly, but soldiers in the US Army cannot pour oil into a drainage ditch.  The US military has stringent environmental standards enforced by civilians that work for USFK.  I am willing to compare the environmental standards USFK follows to any ROK Army installation or a Korean industrial area.  USFK bases are actually a oasis from the polluted environment that usually surrounds the compounds.

Look at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul as a perfect example.  After that base is turned over the Korean government is talking about turning it into a park because it is so clean. The claims about USFK not following environmental laws because of the SOFA Agreement are similar to the claims that USFK personnel never get tried in Korean courts after committing crimes, yet USFK personnel are sentenced all the time in Korean courts and there is still a sizable group of people out there who think this does not happen.  It is the same thing with these “environmental damage” claims.  It is all about the big, bad SOFA Agreement again.  Look for the anti-US groups to try and make this issue a second front in their campaign to drum up support from an increasingly disinterested Korean public.

Here is an interesting poll from Yonhap (Hat Tip: Nomad) that shows that the general Korean public is turning against the anti-US hate groups leading the violent protests and attacks on South Korean policemen and soldiers guarding the annexed land for the Camp Humphreys expansion:

More than eight out of 10 South Koreans surveyed oppose violent protests against the expansion of Camp Humphreys, a U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek, a government survey said Thursday. Most of those surveyed also said it was not right for anti-U.S. groups to intervene in the dispute between residents of Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, and the government. The survey was conducted on about 1,000 adults across the country by poll specialist TNS Korea at the request of the Office for Government Policy Coordination last Sunday. According to the poll, 17 percent of the respondents said the expansion plan must be blocked if necessary, even if the rallies become violent, while 81.4 percent said violence should not be used to resolve the matter.

About 66 percent said it was not right for civic organizations to meddle in the matter with the excuse of helping locals defend their livelihoods. Thirty percent said the intervention is needed to effectively frustrate the Humphreys expansion project. Most people viewed the intervention as politically motivated with 58.1 percent, saying it was intended to use regional opponents to instigate anti-American feeling in South Korea. About 35 percent said they believe the organizations have pure intentions for helping the rural residents. In addition, 74.5 percent said it is too soon to demand U.S. troops withdraw from the Korean Peninsula while 22.2 percent answered in favor of such demands by anti-U.S. activists, the poll said. More than 84 percent of those polled said the U.S. troops play an important role in ensuring security on the peninsula.

These results are very interesting and a good sign that the Camp Humphreys expansion will happen. These results are even encouraging enough that I wonder if the Korean President Roh Moo-hyun might actually make a comment on this issue any time soon. It is really despicable how he has left an issue of great national importance solely on the Defense Ministry to deal with while he hides and sucks up to Kim Jong Il.

A number that the anti-US hate groups are sure not to like, is that 74.5% of people surveyed believed that it is to soon to withdraw US troops from Korea. Remember Korean polls can be very dubious, but I still find this to be an encouraging sign.

This will do nothing to stop the anti-US hate groups activities however. If anything they will become even worse because they now don’t have to worry about trying to garner public support. They haven’t come out in full hatred mode yet because they have been trying to win the battle of public opinion. They have lost that battle but not the war over the expansion project. They will now do everything possible to delay the project in order to frustrate America enough to say forget it and pull troops out instead. So expect even more violent attacks on the police and soldiers.  I also expect them to intimidate and threaten workers that begin constructing the base as well. During all of this also expect President Roh to keep his head in the sand and hide.

This is far from over.

Is it any wonder why the Defense Ministry wants to prosecute these rioters themselves when the civilian courts continue to let these violent hate group activists go free:

In a hearing, the Suwon District Court’s Pyeongtaek branch gave orders to set free the activists “deemed to have not participated in demonstrations actively.”
The ruling dealt yet another blow to prosecutors and police who could so far officially arrest only 10 of the hundreds of anti-U.S. activists detained following last week’s bloody protests against plans to expand a U.S. base south of Seoul.

“There is no direct evidence to suggest that they wielded bamboo sticks or damaged wire fences even though they staged illegal protests inside the fences,” Ma Seong-young, presiding judge, said.

Prosecutors will consider whether to again attempt to formally arrest those released after they study court rulings, according to prosecution officials.

As part of stern measures against anti-U.S. demonstrators, South Korea is seeking military trials for protesters who trespass on the planned site for expanded U.S. military facilities in Pyeongtaek.

Just another example of how the civilian authorities continue to let these hate groups assault and injure the mandatory service draftee riot police with no punishment.  Why doesn’t the court identify these people with the bamboo poles and metal pipes by the all the video and pictures of the riot?  It is because they don’t want to.  That is why the Defense Ministry wants to prosecute the rioters themselves.  Normally I would be against military arrests and trials of civilians, but Korea has such an ineffective civilian court system, I am willing to make an exception in this case.  Someone has to stand up and defend the rights of the policemen and so far only the Defense Ministry is willing to take the measures necessary to do that.

I still find it amazing that the Korean President or anyone high up in the ruling government hasn’t addressed what is going on in Pyeongtaek yet.  You have all these injured policemen and the ruling government says nothing to dissuade the hate groups from continuing to attack the policemen?

At least one segment of Korean society has had enough of the violence in Pyeongtaek over the Camp Humphreys expansion:

Parents of soldiers injured in clashes with protesters opposing the relocation of U.S. military installations here roundly criticized the Defense Ministry for not protecting the unarmed troops constructing fences around the base site in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi province.
The violence broke out after anti-U.S. demonstrators broke through riot police lines late Friday afternoon to try to cut down the fences.
Thirty soldiers were injured, a ministry official said; five are still at a military hospital. (….)

Soldiers’ parents turned their wrath on the demonstrators as well as the ministry. “Taking away their helmets and beating up people can only mean they want to kill people. I don’t know whether what they argue for is wrong or right, but it’s hard to understand their actions,” said Lee Gyeong-suk, 45, the mother of Private Lee Kang-woo, 21, who was hit on the head with a stone in the melee.
Police said a task force of 20 officers had been formed to search for and arrest three officials of the civic groups that organized the bulk of the demonstrations around the base area.

Maybe the riot police should get their pissed off ajuma mothers into battle gear to fight these people. I am willing to bet these mothers would beat these rioters up even worse than the riot police did on Friday.

Some how I doubt the Korean Human Rights Commission will come out and demand an investigation of the protesters’ actions like they routinely do of the riot police.

I have a hard time believing this is going to happen:

South Korea’s prosecution said Saturday it will sternly deal with those who staged violent protests against a plan to expand a U.S. military base south of Seoul.

About 540 demonstrators were arrested Thursday after they clashed with riot police and soldiers who evicted them from their headquarters, an elementary school in Pyeongtaek, about 70 kilometers south of Seoul. Hundreds on both sides were injured.

The prosecution requested a court issue warrants to officially arrest 37 of those suspected of taking part in violent protests, said Lee Kwi-nam, head of the prosecution’s public security bureau.

If the South Korean authorities want to discourage the protesters then they need to give them all heavy fines and imprison the ring leaders.  The priest, if you can really call him that, leading these protests is still running around causing trouble.  He is the one that needs to be in jail.  However, enforcing laws is not a strong point of Korean society, especially when it comes to violently attacking 20 year old draftee policemen with metal pipes and bamboo poles like these idiot protesters have been doing.

UPDATE #3: So much for the Gwangju comparisons, the battle is over and the frontlines have been secured. Here is a tally of the final casualties:

About 1,100 protesters and farmers were evicted yesterday morning from the site of a planned U.S. Army base. In a 10-hour operation, riot police with batons, shields and water cannon overran a school where the protesters made a stand. With the area cleared, military engineers moved in to build a concertina wire-topped fence around the area. About 210 people, 117 policemen and 93 protesters, were reportedly injured in the assault. Six policemen and seven protesters were said to have been seriously hurt.
Police made more than 500 arrests.
About 13,000 riot police and 2,800 soldiers were involved.

Of course the human rights commission is on their way:

Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said in a statement, “The actions by some activists to use the people of the area as pawns in a political battle against a national project is detrimental both to the citizens living in the area and the national interest.” Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission dispatched 13 investigators to the scene to ascertain no human rights violations occurred in the day¿s conflict.

I’m sue we will be subjected to human rights complaints for the next few days from these guys complaining about the protesters getting the crap beaten out of them while completing ignoring the fact these protesters were beating the police with their pipes and bamboo poles not to mention the fact that more police were injured in the battle than protesters.

So far it looks like the anti-US hate groups have been dealt a crushing blow as they right now appear to not be garnering any public sympathy for their cause. It appears that their violent tactics and childish ranting has worn thin with an indifferent Korean public. However, I’m sure they will be back using some other tactics, possibly complaining of “environmental damage” on the annexed land by the Defense Ministry. I can assure you that this is not over yet.

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UPDATE #2: Here is an Oh My News report with lot’s of pictures from the front lines.

Here is a picture from the school in Daechu-ri, that is a lot of riot police:

Here is a picture of the wire that is being put up around the area being annexed for the Camp Humphreys expansion. For those not in the military this is military concertina wire that is actually very effective for securing perimeters but you have to leave patrols to ensure that no one will put boards over it or digs underneath it.

The Oh My News coverage basically centered around the police beating up the protesters with pictures like these:

Before you start feeling sorry for these union pro-North Korean / anti-US thugs, remember images like the one below. Peaceful protesters don’t weild pipes and bamboo poles at the police. The police after beating the crap out of these guys should have arrested them as well.

So far it looks like the Ministry of Defense is winning this climatic battle and will just need to continue to hold the perimeter from these thugs. I will provide updates as they come out.

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UPDATE #1: The rumble is on at Camp Humphreys:

Thousands of police Thursday scuffled with hundreds of farmers, civic activists and anti-U.S. students in an area designated for expanded U.S. military facilities. There have been no immediate reports of

casualties, according to police.
The Defense Ministry sent some 3,000 troops, including 600 military engineers, and about 700 civilian security personnel and heavy equipment to build a barbed wire fence around the area. Engineers started setting up the wire fence at around 7:30 a.m.

No reports of casualties? This sounds like front line war report. Than again the Daechu-ri Elementary School might as well be a war zone:

Police armed with batons and shields were engaged in fierce fighting with stone-throwing labor activists and some residents wielding long sticks near Daechuri Elementary School, a makeshift headquarters for the remaining occupants and civic activists.

___________________________________________________________

It looks like the final showdown between the anti-US hate groups and the Korean government is about to take place to decide the fate of the Camp Humphreys expansion and the future of the US-ROK alliance:

The Defense Ministry and the police have agreed to put up barbed wire fences around the site for a planned new U.S. Forces Korea headquarters to keep protestors from occupying an elementary school and working the fields there. The government plans to mobilize a huge force of some 14,000 troops to evict the resistance on Thursday, raising fears of violent clashes with residents, activists and members of the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions camped out at the Daechu-ri Elementary School in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

What the heck does the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions have to do with a base expansion other than their hatred for anything involving the US?:

On Tuesday, when it became clear that clashes would be inevitable, the secretary-general of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions announced, ¿Workers in South and North Korea came together and resolved to stage an anti-American campaign on Labor Day¿ at Daechu-ri Elementary School, the impromptu headquarters of activists there. ¿It is the U.S. that drives this peaceful land to war and squeezes the public of its blood and sweat,¿ he said. ¿Daechu-ri in Pyeongtaek has its place in our fight against the U.S.¿

It is going to be interesting to see if the Korean government has enough nerve to actually enforce law and order in Daechu-ri and arrest the outsiders like the KFTU thugs that are continually causing problems in Korea.

So what really happened at Camp Humphreys this week?

From the Stars and Stripes:

South Korean authorities under heavy police escort Wednesday took the first steps toward sealing off a large tract of contested farmland that is to eventually become part of an expanded Camp Humphreys.

Some local residents who oppose the expansion scuffled with South Korean riot police and four female protesters were injured and taken to area hospitals, police said.

Police also made arrests but had no immediate word Wednesday night on how many.

The South Korean government has taken control of the land so the U.S. military can triple Camp Humphreys’ size and turn it into its main installation in South Korea by 2008.

Work crews Wednesday began setting up fencing and digging trenches across roads to prevent farmers from working the rice fields, something growers have threatened to begin doing Friday in defiance of the expansion plan.

“We are planning to set up barbed-wire fences,” an official at South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday.

In the S&S article the police stopped the protesters, but the Korean media had a different version of the story.

From the Chosun:

The Defense Ministry and police are not stopping them for fear of violent clashes. Police are, however, stopping any tractors from elsewhere by stationing some 4,400 officers on 11 major access roads and highway tollgates near the area since Wednesday.

“It’s illegal to work fields the Defense Ministry has already taken control of with government permission, but we haven’t used any aggressive measures to stop them because that could provoke residents and activists,” a ministry official said. Instead, the ministry says it will bring them to book for trespassing once it has collected evidence of wrongdoing.

“Collected evidence of wrong doing?” The police saw them breaking the law right in front of their own eyes and didn’t arrest these people! What more evidence do you need?! Expect more Camp Humprheys drama to come.

It looks like things are calming down at Camp Humphreys:

The head of a group representing club owners outside Camp Humphreys said Tuesday he’s hoping to persuade base officials to quickly rescind an order that placed a dozen local businesses off-limits last week and touched off an outcry from the merchants.

Camp Humphreys commander Col. Michael J. Taliento Jr. last week put 11 of the businesses off-limits, alleging they were selling alcohol to underage servicemembers. He put a 12th business off-limits for an alleged instance of prostitution or human trafficking.

Kim Ki-ho, president of the Anjung-ri Merchants Association, said merchants were so angered they hung a banner Friday in the heart of the bar district to protest the move.

“Commander Michael J. Taliento Jr., You go back to Afghanistan again,” the banner read. Taliento served in Afghanistan before taking command of the Area III Support Activity at Camp Humphreys in June 2004.

But the merchants have since put aside their anger and on Sunday afternoon took down the banner, said Kim.

I’m sure they will work something out, the clubs will be on their best behavior, and this whole thing will blow over. Given time, things will eventually be back to business as usual.