Tag: South Korea

Today I had something really weird happen. This afternoon there was a knock at the door my wife answered the door where she began to engage in a conversation with a middle aged Korean woman. They began to argue and I asked my wife what they were arguing about. I came to find out that the woman on our door was a Scientology recruiter trying to enlist my wife. My wife is a die hard Christian so she was getting worked up by the Scientology sales pitch.

The recruiter was happy to see me though because she must of realized she wasn’t getting anywhere with my wife and tried to convince me about the wonders of Scientology. One of her claims were that Scientologists were some of the first people on the scene in Taegu after the subway fire a few years back and they rescued many lives. I checked out her claim on the internet and she is slightly correct:

In the same month Church of Scientology Volunteer Ministers went to the aid of the Sakhalin victims, they also served in the aftermath of the huge explosion that rocked Taegu, a large city in southern South Korea. A construction site gas main had blown up, killing and injuring scores of people, including children.

One Scientologist and a student from the university where he teaches English were among the Volunteer Ministers who hurried to the scene of the accident to give assists. Dozens of children who were distraught at the start told the professor and his student after the assists that they were calmer, relieved and no longer afraid.

She also claimed that Scientologists were aiding with the tsunami disaster. Which I also found to be true. However, when I asked her if the Scientologists were just aiding the disaster victims to gain more members, she just commented that if people in the region wanted to join after their aid efforts that is perfectly acceptable. I personally find it reprehensible that any religion would use the tsunami relief effort as a method to recruit more members to their religion.

So what exactly is Scientology? If you are interested you can clikck here to find out more about it, but it appears just to be nothing more than a cult based around the teachings from the books by L. Ron Hubbard. I found a Fox News report about Scientology that claims that the Scientology is a cult and brings up the names of many of the movie stars that practice Scientology such as Goldie Hawn, John Travolta, and Tom Cruise. Allegedly Scientology is what broke up his marriage to Nicole Kidman.

I was curious about Scientology in Korea and I asked the woman how many Koreans practice Scientology and she just told me many are joining every day. I take that to mean not many. So I checked it out on the internet and found on a Scientology website that there is in fact 443 Scientologists in Korea. 401 of them are based out of Seoul.

During my research also found out that Hubbard had a connection to Korea. He was a military policeman here in 1946 and was discharged from the Navy following his tour here. While here in Korea he preached his Scientology philosophy and worked to create converts. It looks like they are still trying to create converts here; it just isn’t going to be me.

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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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 Korean government may soon regulate the Korean dog meat industry

The South Korean government’s moves toward regulating the dog meat industry have people on both sides of the issue foaming at the mouth.

Last week, the South Korean cabinet announced it would draw up rules prohibiting the brutal slaughter of dogs for food and push laws that set guidelines on hygienic processing and sale of dog meat.

The moves are seen in South Korea as an attempt to police an industry that while drawing international scorn is a tradition in many parts of Korean culture.

To legalize the dog meat trade, the law on livestock slaughtering should be revised to include dogs, the Korea Times quoted an unnamed senior government official as saying.

But last week’s decision is only intended at thoroughly controlling the hygiene standard of dog meat, which is considered as food in reality.

While South Korea has laws against several methods of killing dogs, it doesn’t outlaw dog meat sale or consumption.

Not everyone is happy about this:

The issue flared during the 2002 World Cup, when soccer’s international governing body called on South Korea to stop the practice.

Animal-rights groups reacted swiftly to the government’s move to regulate the trade.

Setting a hygiene standard on dog meat means nothing but legalizing the dog meat industry, the Korea Animal Protection Society stated in a news release.

We cannot believe the government is moving to legalize the dog-eating practice of some Koreans, which is not only harmful for national interests but also disgraceful and reproachable.

I don’t eat dog meat and probably never will but I think that eating dog meat here is something paticular to Korean culture just like eating beef is part of American culture. In some areas of the world such as India eating beef is frowned upon. In other areas eating pork is frowned upon. Other countries eat horses. There is a lot of differences in cuisine all across the world. So if Koreans want to eat dog they should not be prevented from doing so and those of us who do not eat dog meat should not judge Koreans negatively for doing so. It just something particular to their culture.

However, something we can judge them on is how they butcher the dogs. It is really inhumane to beat a dog to death just to get the adrenaline flowing into the meat before butchering. In the 2ID area of northern Kyongi province there are a lot of farms that butcher dogs and it is sickening to hear the dogs getting beat to death while in the field pulling night time guard duty. So if the Korean government wants to regulate something they should regulate the treatment of the dogs but should allow people to eat dog if they want to as long as the butchering process is humane. I however don’t expect much to change. I’m sure the next time I go to the field I will hear more yelping dogs.

It has been coming but now Camp Page has officially been closed.

Citizens from the South Korean city of Chunchon said goodbye to U.S. soldiers serving at Camp Page in a ceremony last week marking the end of a 54-year mission.

The base, it’s major feature an airstrip built after Chunchon was recaptured from communist forces in March 1951, is due to close by the end of next month, officials have said. The U.S. 8th Army announced this week that one of the Camp Page units, the 542nd Medical Evacuation Company, including about 120 soldiers and their equipment, will move to Fort Campbell, Ky., by April.

Another Camp Page unit, the 1st Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment, will move to Camp Eagle, near the South Korean city of Wonju, about an hour’s drive south of Chunchon, according to an 8th Army statement.

Some people are happy about this:

People living near the base, some of whom have filed a lawsuit seeking damages for severe noise from U.S. aircraft, will be happy about the base closure. So will landlords who have faced height restrictions on buildings near the base, he said.

However, others are not:

U.S. Forces Korea Korean Employees Union Kangwon chapter representative Yi Un-song said the ceremony was nice, but that it was not a good feeling to see the city spend $30,000 on a party when it had done nothing to help South Korean employees losing their jobs at the base.

Only 80 out of about 270 Camp Page South Korean base workers have had job offers from USFK so far, and all those offered jobs will have to relocate, he said.

Kim Yong-bak, a chief of the planning section for Chunchon City Hall, confirmed the cost of the ceremony but said it is not the city’s responsibility to help laid-off base workers.

Most Chunchon locals will miss Camp Page, which contributed greatly to postwar restoration in Chunchon during the 1950s and 1960s, Kim said.

Maybe the 8th Army worker that defected to North Korea was one of the guys who got layed off? Who knows? But it was time for Camp Page to close though. Camp Page is actually a good place to be stationed because it is located so far away from the rest of 2ID and is in a great area of Chuncheon. However, the base is located in the middle of the city near the river which has become a burden on the city with the continued development of Chuncheon. The noise of the helicopters, on this former aviation base, coming and going every day from this location in the city probably does get annoying after a while for nearby residences. Expect more base closures to come.

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UPDATE:  For those interested I have since published an up to date profile about Camp Page at this link.