I think it is arguable that USFK’s part in the US’s overall North Korea strategy is to do everything possible to not be the ones’ to blame if the current peace process falls apart because North Korea does not denuclearize. The Kim regime would need an excuse for reneging on giving up their nukes and claiming that USFK is training to destroy them is a good excuse. With that said they can just claim the US military presence in South Korea is enough to justify keeping their nukes as well:
General Robert Abrams, who is nominated to become the new commander of US Forces Korea.
Robert B. Abrams, a four-star US Army general who is nominated to become the next US Forces Korea (USFK) commander, stated that the suspension of joint military exercises between the US and South Korea has undermined combat readiness, and that an “atmosphere of detente” is being created on the Korean Peninsula.During a hearing to vet him for his new position at the Senate Armed Service Committee on Sept. 25, Abrams talked about the suspension of the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian joint military exercises in the wake of the US-North Korea summit meeting on June 12. According to an AFP report, he said “I think the suspension of the exercise this past August and September, I would say was a prudent risk if we’re willing to make the effort to change the relationship with [North Korea].” [Hankyoreh]
The FED became an oddly located military installation after Seoul’s explosive growth. It is now about to finally close:
A Korean War-era Quonset hut stands at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Far East District compound in Seoul, South Korea, July 31, 2018.
A few blocks from the sloping, spaceship-shaped Dongdaemun Design Plaza in one of Seoul’s trendiest fashion districts is another odd sight.
A tiny U.S. Army base sits just across the street from a hospital morgue and adjacent to a park that blocks its view from a major thoroughfare.
Know as FED, the compound has been home to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Far East District, headquarters since the 1950-53 Korean War. Before that it was the site of a Japanese-built school from the nearly four decades when Japan occupied the peninsula until its defeat in World War II.
Surrounded by concrete and brick walls lined with concertina wire, the 13-acre base can be easy to miss, one of several sub-installations that belong to the larger Yongsan Garrison just a few miles away.
But its history reflects the highs and lows of the U.S. presence in the South Korean capital. In a final act, the Corps of Engineers is preparing to close the base after it moves to Camp Humphreys as part of the long-delayed relocation of most U.S. forces south of Seoul.
Kenneth Pickler, 64, the Far East District’s transportation chief, has worked on the compound since he was first deployed there as a soldier 1989, then took a job as a civilian after retiring from active duty.
The Cloverdale, Calif., native plans to retire after the FED compound closes, although he plans to remain in South Korea.
“My last official duty is to shut off the lights, lock the gate and hand the keys over … back to the garrison,” he told Stars and Stripes in an interview last month. “And that’s supposed to happen in mid-November.” [Stars and Stripes]
You can read much more at the link such as the fact that a third of the buildings at the FED were built by the Japanese. The first building was the Gyeongseong School of Education built in 1922 that is the main building used on the compound.
There is also an interesting story about a fuel leak mess created by the South Koreans when they razed an old Japanese courthouse adjacent to the FED back in the 1990’s that the US had to clean up. It reminded me of the current fuel leak controversy over at Yongsan Garrison frequently blamed on USFK.
After the base closes in November there are not current plans on what the ROK will do with the land. Considering that there are a number of Japanese era buildings on the property the bulldozer is likely coming for them.
I think these hearings should not provide any controversies though I would not be surprised if some members of Congress try to get him to say comments critical of the Trump administration’s North Korea policies:
General Robert B. Abrams
Washington is set to replace the commander of US forces in South Korea amid a rapid diplomatic thaw on the peninsula, even as denuclearisation of the North stalls.
The US stations 28,500 troops in the South, a treaty ally, to defend it against its nuclear-armed neighbour, which invaded in 1950, triggering the Korean War.
General Robert B. Abrams, commander of the US Army Forces Command, will undergo a confirmation hearing next week to be head of US Forces Korea (USFK), the Senate Armed Services Committee’s website showed.
If his nomination is approved, he will succeed General Vincent Brooks as commander of USFK, the UN Command and the South Korea-US Combined Forces Korea, who has been in the post since April 2016. [Korea Times]
It will be interesting to see how many more requests General Brooks will be receiving from the Moon administration to send materials across the border:
Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, commander of United Nations Command and the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) at an event in Seoul on Wednesday / Yonhap
The U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) authorized South Korea vehicles and personnel to cross the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) to support construction of communication infrastructure that will be used in inter-Korean business projects.
“Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, Commander of United Nations Command, authorized vehicles and personnel from the Republic of Korea to cross the Military Demarcation Line today in the eastern transportation corridor to support construction of communication infrastructure to be used between the Republic of Korea and North Korea,” said the UNC press release, Thursday.
“The approval allows more material than what is needed to repair communication lines, and will result in the construction of a communication building.” [Korea Times]
Col. Kerry Proulx oversaw the 51st Mission Support Group since July 2016. (Air Force)
A colonel at Osan Air Base in South Korea was relieved of command earlier this year after investigators found she strongly and repeatedly leaned on base officials to build a dog park at her quarters.
Col. Kerry Proulx, former commander of the 51st Mission Support Group, also improperly allowed subordinates and one subordinate’s wife to pay for her meals, and did not always repay them, according to a commander-directed investigation report obtained by Air Force Times through the Freedom of Information Act.
Proulx was relieved April 13 by Col. William Betts, commander of the 51st Fighter Wing. At the time, the base said she was removed due to a “loss of confidence in her ability to effectively lead,” but did not elaborate further. Proulx is now chief of the personnel division at Air Education and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph in Texas. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment submitted to AETC.
The report, dated Feb. 5, detailed a sustained and improper effort by Proulx to get a dog park built directly adjacent to her senior officer quarters, which began immediately after she took command in July 2016. It concluded she “wrongfully direct[ed] the use of government property to construct a dog park for her own personal use.” [Air Force Times]
You can read much more at the link, but this is just another example of how a senior officer some how became so full of their own self importance to risk their career over something as insignificant as a dog park. Even more incredible was that the former 7th Air Force Commander, Lieutenant General Bergeson and other senior officers had to walk through this dog park each day and no one apparently called Col. Proulx to ask her why a dog park was being built over a major public access way:
Its construction also removed a public access way, requiring building residents and the commander and vice commander of the 7th Air Force at Osan — Lt. Gen. Thomas Bergeson and Brig. Gen. Lansing Pilch — to open a gate and walk through the dog park to get to the building’s stairs.
The investigator called Proulx’s explanation for why the dog park needed to be located there “illogical.”
“If the dog park was truly for all residents in the area, it would at least have the gate placed separate from the public stair top, it could have been made smaller and not block the public walkway, or it could have been built between” two buildings.
The next time I am on Osan AB I am going to have to walk over and visit this infamous dog park if it hasn’t already been relocated.
Remember the happy news the S. Korean NSA brought us a mere two days ago, that Kim Jong Un purportedly did not object to the presence of USFK. So, does this mean KCNA = independent media? Or that Kim, perish the thought, was lying? https://t.co/VPnriRKVqB
I personally always thought the joint exercises would be restarted in time to execute Key Resolve 2019 because I never believed the Kim regime was were serious about real denuclearization:
The U.S. military will move ahead with all future military exercises on the Korean Peninsula, Defense Secretary James N. Mattis said Tuesday, suggesting that America’s brief suspension of the drills as a show of “good faith” toward North Korea has not paid dividends in the struggling denuclearization talks with Pyongyang.
“We have no plans at this time to suspend any more exercises,” Mr. Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon, less than three months after President Trump labeled the U.S.-South Korean drills “provocative” and ordered them temporarily halted following his unprecedented face-to-face meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Mr. Mattis made the announcement at a rare press conference with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, during which the two also weighed in on a range of other topics, including efforts to stamp out the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and the U.S. role in battling Iran-backed rebels in Yemen. [Washington Times via a reader tip]
You can read more at the link, but supposedly the President received a hostile letter from the Butcher of the Cheonan, Kim Yong-chol that caused this announcement:
After the announcement it appears the ROK government may want to play delay games with restarting the joint exercises:
Resumption or suspension of joint military drills between South Korea and the United States is subject to discussions between the allies, an official from Seoul’s presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday.
“As of now, the issue has not been discussed between South Korea and the United States,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told a daily press briefing. (……)
“It is an issue that should be discussed and decided by South Korea and the U.S. while reviewing the progress in the denuclearization of North Korea,” the Cheong Wa Dae official said. [Yonhap]
I expect that the Moon administration will come out of his upcoming summit with Kim Jong-il offering some minor concession to entice the Trump administration to believe the Kim regime is serious about denuclearization. Regardless I would be surprised if Key Resolve 2019 does not happen. I guess we will see what happens.
It looks like General Brooks is keeping an open mind about this ROK proposal:
Gen. Vincent Brooks, leader of U.S. Forces Korea, the United Nations Command and the Combined Forces Command, attends a press conference at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018.
The top U.S. commander in South Korea expressed support Wednesday for a plan to remove some guard posts from the tense border, saying it’s a “reasonable” risk that may help denuclearization talks with the North.
South Korea’s defense ministry has said it plans to close about 10 guard posts along the Demilitarized Zone and expects the North to reciprocate as part of a bilateral summit agreement to ease tensions.
Gen. Vincent Brooks — who wears three hats as the leader of U.S. Forces Korea, the United Nations Command and the Combined Forces Command — said he supports the initiative to reduce tensions and build trust between the rival nations.
“I have some concerns about what that means militarily to the ability to defend along the Military Demarcation Line and in depth beyond it,” he said at a press conference at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents’ Club.
“I believe that there’s a reasonable amount of risk that’s involved in this, not an excessive amount of risk,” to the defense of South Korea, he said. [Stars & Stripes]
The 7th Air Force in South Korea is about to get a new commander:
LTG Thomas Bergeson
The Korean government on Thursday conferred a medal of merit to Lt. Gen. Thomas W. Bergeson, the outgoing commander of the U.S. 7th Air Force, for his contribution to peace and stability on the peninsula.
Defense Minister Song Young-moo gave Bergeson the Gukseon Medal, the second-highest class in the Order of National Security Merit, on behalf of the Korean government, his office said. Bergeson, who took the commander post in July 2016, is set to leave the position next week.
“[Bergeson] has contributed greatly to safeguarding peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula through a show of strong deterrence capabilities against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats,” the Defense Ministry said.
“He was recognized for his contribution to establishing the strong combined defense posture by enhancing the combined operations capabilities,” it added.
Lt. Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach, the commander of the Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command Region, is set to succeed Bergeson. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
This should serve as a warning to USFK officials that the Korean media now controlled by the political left will make big news out of any USFK crime story they can find, to include one that happened two years ago that they just heard about:
A former U.S. senior airman is serving a 15-year jail sentence for sexually molesting two South Korean male orphans and possessing dozens of child pornography videos, court records showed.
Robert Kelgard, who was stationed at Kunsan Air Base, 270 kilometers south of Seoul, between 2012 and 2013, was convicted by a court-martial in April 2016, Col. John Bosone, the commander of the 8th Fighter Wing at the base, confirmed the information last week in a response to questions from Yonhap News Agency.
Bosone called Kelgard’s crimes “heinous and despicable,” noting that his wrongdoings have resulted in his dishonorable discharge from the Air Force, 15 years of confinement in military prison, total forfeiture of pay and allowance, and demotion.
“As soon as United States Air Force investigators stationed at Kunsan Air Base were made aware of the incidents, they, with Korean National Police, immediately and aggressively investigated the allegations, and Kelgard was militarily prosecuted for his crimes,” the commander said.
“This is a very shameful past moment for Kunsan Air Base and our community,” he added, stressing that the crimes by the “predator” are not reflective of U.S. service members who serve here for the defense of South Korea under an alliance treaty. [Yonhap]
You can read much more at the link, but considering that the molestation crime happened off post the ROK authorities could have asked to prosecute him. However, like we have seen with other incidents ROK authorities have let USFK prosecute servicemembers if the crime does not become well known in the Korean media because the perpetrator for a sex crime receives greater punishment.
