Here is a really messed up story involving a USFK soldier who had his wife cheat on him, get pregnant, then falsely claim the child was his, and then falsely claim the baby died at child birth:

A South Korea-based soldier has been entangled in a monthslong drama complete with a cheating spouse, long-distance lies and kidnapping charges.

Sgt. Steven Garcia, 24, is a patrol supervisor with the 142nd Military Police Company at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul. In January, he was told that his wife, Marina Garcia, had given birth to a daughter back home in Arizona who died during childbirth.

“When my sister called me about that, it was pretty emotional,” Garcia told KVOA News in Tucson. “We cried quite a bit together over the phone. It was devastating.”

But he soon learned it wasn’t true.

On Feb. 5, an Arizona highway patrolman pulled over an out-of-state vehicle for speeding north of Willcox, Ariz., according to court documents. Inside was a Texas couple and a newborn.

Upon questioning the couple – Alex Hernandez, 33, and his wife, Leslie Morin Hernandez, 41 – the trooper learned that neither was a biological parent of the 3-day-old infant, the documents said.

Further questioning at the police station revealed that Alex Hernandez had fraudulently signed the birth certificate as the father after Marina Garcia arranged to give the child to them.

The Hernandezes were taken into custody, and the baby, who relatives said is named Leo, was handed over to Arizona’s Department of Child Safety.

Later that day, detectives questioned Marina Garcia, who was living in Sierra Vista with her boyfriend, an Army specialist. She admitted to conspiring with the Hernandezes and planned to travel to Texas to sign away her parental rights after recovering from delivery, according to court documents obtained by Stars and Stripes.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but Sergeant Garcia unsurprisingly wants a divorce.  He also wants custody of the baby even though it is not his because he was a child that was adopted.

As unfortunate as this story is, I could not help, but think about this article after reading it.

Via a reader tip comes this AFN report from last year about a KATUSA soldier that was reportedly the first to marry an American woman while still completing his mandatory service obligation:

All the best to the couple.

Here is who is reportedly replacing General Brooks as the next USFK commander:

The Donald Trump administration is expected to name Robert B. Abrams, a four-star Army general, as the new U.S. Forces Korea commander, according to a diplomatic source Wednesday.

Abrams will replace Gen. Vincent Brooks, who will leave his post as commander of United States Forces Korea (USFK) possibly as early as this summer. An official announcement naming Abrams, currently commander of the U.S. Army Forces Command, as the new head of the USFK is expected to come at a later date, and the replacement is expected to take place in July or August.

The White House is also expected to soon officially name four-star Adm. Harry Harris, the outgoing chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, as ambassador to Seoul, a long-vacant position. A diplomatic source well informed on the matter told the JoongAng Ilbo, “The duo of Harris, a four-star Navy admiral, and Abrams, a four-star Army general, stand at the front line in the case of any problems arising amid the rapidly changing situation on the Korean Peninsula.”

Their appointments would complete the Trump administration’s reshuffling of the diplomatic and security lineup over the Korean Peninsula. Abrams, 57, is the son of a 1950-53 Korean War veteran, Gen. Creighton W. Abrams Jr., a former Army chief of staff and commander in Vietnam who is known for legendary exploits in World War II. His two brothers are also in the military.

Abrams was born in 1960 in Germany and has spent more than 30 years in active service. A graduate of the United States Military Academy, Abrams received a master of science degree from Central Michigan University and a master of strategic studies degree from the United States Army War College. He has led units in countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Abrams also previously served as a senior military assistant to the secretary of defense and a strategic war planner for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He became the 22nd chief of United States Army Forces Command in 2015, commanding some 229,000 active duty soldiers. The Army Forces Command includes some 776,000 soldiers and 96,000 civilians.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

Here is what one man said he saw happening at a closed USFK base in the Western Corridor:

A dump truck pulled into view ahead, coming up from the back gate down to the front gate, both of which had been left wide open. Maybe it was just taking a shortcut?

As I followed it down, a few minutes later I heard another truck behind me. I jumped into the brush again. But this truck stopped at a corner, engine idling. I heard what sounded like someone dumping out fluids from containers onto the ground.

Finally, after at least 10 minutes, a door slammed and the truck pulled out. I hugged the brush as the truck trundled past me on its way downhill.

Once it was out of sight, I hiked up to where it had parked, but couldn’t find any trace of whatever was dumped out. So I escaped before a third truck could come.

Heading downhill, the front gate was still wide open and several dump trucks were parked in front.

Months earlier, the Seoul City Government tested the soil and groundwater around six USFK sites in the city, searching for signs of contamination by U.S. forces. One site was the Eighth U.S. Army Religious Retreat compound, which would’ve been used for weddings, not storing Agent Orange or formaldehyde.

The contamination tests in Seoul didn’t reveal anything too scandalous, but even if they had, I’d remember that U.S. base that once stood proudly between Seoul and North Korea, turned into a toxic waste dump.  [Korea Times via a reader tip]

You can read more at the link, but local nationals illegally dumping is something I have seen plenty of times before in Korea from mechanics dumping oil into storm drains and septic trucks pumping their waste directly into a stream.

Here are some details about the Max Thunder exercise that North Korea is complaining about:

Max Thunder, which North Korea claims is the cause of its decision to cancel high-level talks with the South, is a joint military drill between the Air Forces of South Korea and the United States.

It has been held every May since 2009, with this year’s drill starting May 11 and continuing for two weeks.

The drills include annual defensive exercises with mock combat, and the number of fighter jets and troops this year is similar to those in years past, with some 100 aircraft from both countries participating, according to the Korean Air Force.

This year, eight of the U.S.’s F-22 Raptor stealth fighters were deployed for the drills for the first time. It is said the Raptor fighters can penetrate North Korea’s radar fence and make surgical strikes against strategic facilities.

But unlike the initial plan, B-52 strategic bombers, one of the U.S.’s strategic assets, will not be deployed, amid ongoing talks about North Korea’s denuclearization. Pyongyang has been sensitive about the bomber which can carry nuclear weapons.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but this is a fairly low level exercise compared to the Key Resolve and UFG exercises. Plus as the article states this low level exercise was even further downgraded by not including the B-52’s.  So it is pretty clear to me that it is just being used as an excuse by the Kim regime to send a message to the Trump administration to reign in officials bringing up suggestions to discuss forbidden topics such as human rights at the upcoming June 12th summit.

As I have been saying for some time, if a peace treaty is agreed to with North Korea, the South Korean left will then challenge the relevancy of the US-ROK alliance:

Two progressive civic groups on Sunday called for a review of the character of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) in line with the two Koreas’ efforts for reconciliation and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The ,  and Minbyun-Lawyers for a Democratic Society issued the call, with Seoul and Washington set to hold a third round of negotiations this week on sharing the cost for the upkeep of 28,500 American troops in the South.

“As (the two Koreas) are in the process of implementing the Panmunjom Declaration and establishing a peace regime, the character and size of the USFK, and the scope of its activities should be reviewed,” the two groups said in a joint statement.  [Yonhap]

The PSPD and Minbyun are both extreme left wing pro-Pyongyang organization that have long been anti-US.  For example PSPD is one of the groups behind the ongoing THAAD protests, blamed the US for Christian missionaries kidnapped by the Taliban, was a member of the Korean Alliance Against the Korea-U.S. FTA that even had one of their own set himself on fire outside one of the FTA meetings in Seoul.  PSPD was also one of the lead organizations against the relocation of US forces to Camp Humphreys.

Minbyun on the other hand are basically Kim Jong-un’s personal lawyers in South Korea.  They have long been used to legally attack North Korean defectors, one of the groups behind the US beef riots, and have long attacked the USFK relocation plan.

ROK President Moon Jae-in has said that after a peace treaty he wants US forces to stay.

Moon, however, has said that the USFK is a matter of the Seoul-Washington alliance and that it has “nothing to do with” a peace treaty that the two Koreas agreed to pursue to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended only with a truce.

Remember though that Moon is a very skilled politician that needs to keep the Korean right at bay and public anxiety down.  If he advocated openly for a USFK withdrawal that would give the South Korean right an issue to strongly attack him with and cause much public anxiety after decades of security guarantees provided by US forces.  That is why I think it is a possibility that the Moon administration may publicly say they support USFK, but will then have their surrogates do things to make life difficult for USFK such as what Minbyun is proposing:

Regarding the allies’ talks on the cost of American troops here, the civic groups called for more transparency in spending procedures, more parliamentary oversight and a ban on the use of money for supporting the deployment of U.S. strategic assets.

Possibly the future of USFK could look a lot like the current THAAD site in Seongju.  President Moon will say all the right things that he supports USFK, just like he supposedly supports the THAAD site, but will set conditions to make it difficult for its continued existence.  Minbyun and PSPD’s current efforts could just be the start of a larger strategy to make life more difficult for USFK if a peace treaty is signed.  All the while expect the Moon administration to say how much they support USFK.

Over at One Free Korea he has an interesting posting up that I recommend everyone read where he discusses whether US Forces Korea (USFK) should be withdrawn from the peninsula:

To save Korea’s democracy, withdraw its American security blanket

Most Korea-watchers will view the recent hints from both Seoul and Washington about a U.S. withdrawal with alarm, and as a grave risk to the security of both Korea and Japan. Indeed, it’s one more development that’s consistent with my hypothesis that Pyongyang means to coerce and cajole Seoul into submission, first by lowering the South’s defenses, and later by ruling it through an inter-Korean confederation that it will use to suppress dissent, neutralize it as a political and military threat, and loot its resources without the burdens of war, occupation, or cultural pollution. The Panmunjom agreement will fuel Pyongyang’s expectations of collaboration by a government in Seoul that prioritizes ethno-nationalism and appeasement over the protection (much less the propagation) of liberal democratic values.  […….]

If the arc of Korean history bends toward capitulation, the continuing presence of American forces is less likely to bend it back than soothe into passivity those Koreans who still can. Our presence would only create a false sense of security and quell any sense of alarm that the Blue House is consenting to a quiet capitulation of the freedom and prosperity their parents and grandparents won at such a terrible cost. Maybe the U.S. presence is contributing to the clearest and most present danger to Koreans’ security by obstructing the concentration of their minds, by retarding their development of a confident sense of nationhood, and by excusing them from the grim burdens of sisu.

Can America do anything to bend that arc back? One answer might be to present Koreans with a stark choice and a referendum. So let President Trump go to his summit with His Porcine Majesty, and soon. Let him hear Kim Jong-un’s offer. Then, let him — and John Kelly, John Bolton, Jim Mattis, and Mike Pompeo — explain to us why those terms are tantamount to surrender, why Moon was a fool or worse[10] for agreeing to them, and that while South Korea is free to surrender itself, we would rather retrench ourselves in Japan than subsidize frivolous policies that undermine our own security.  [One Free Korea]

I highly recommend reading the whole thing at the link, but I have long believed that there has been peace in Northeast Asia since the end of the Korean War because of the balancing influence that the US military provides to the region.  However, that doesn’t mean we need all the troops currently in South Korea if real concessions are made by the North Koreans.

For example if the Kim regime removes the vast majority of their troops and artillery positions along the DMZ would USFK still need to have the 2nd Infantry Division forward deployed in Korea?  Would the Air Force need as many aircraft stationed there to take out those artillery positions?  That is why I think this argument needs to be influenced by real actions by North Korea not pretend ones, which is all we have seen so far from the Kim regime.

I have to wonder if the Moon administration is going to try and tie how much the ROK is willing to pay for the upkeep of USFK to the outcome of the Kim-Trump Summit?:

South Korea and the United States are expected to hold a new round of talks next week in their ongoing negotiations over the costs for U.S. troops stationed here, a source close to the matter said Monday.

According to the source, both countries are currently discussing details about schedules and location after they decided to hold the talks next week. The source added that Washington D.C. could be the venue for the meeting.

The talks are led by Chang Won-sam, a career diplomat who was appointed in mid-November to head the negotiation team, and Timothy Betts, deputy assistant secretary for plans, programs and operations at the U.S. State Department.

It will be the third round of negotiations. The two sides previously met in Honolulu, Hawaii, in March and in Seogwipo on Jeju Island last month.

The latest meeting comes after the New York Times reported that U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to consider reducing American troops in South Korea. Although the U.S. government denied the report, some speculated that it could be a move to put more pressure on South Korea to shoulder more of the costs.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Is this the latest example of “fake news” the US President often derides?:

The President’s request of the Defense Department comes ahead of his highly anticipated sit-down with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, expected to take place along the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas.

North and South Korea recently held their own historic summit, which included an agreement on holding talks over denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and bringing a formal conclusion to the Korean War.

If the peace talks continue among countries, it could decrease the need for a US presence in the region, officials told the newspaper.

National security adviser John Bolton on Friday disputed the Times’ report, calling it “utter nonsense.”

President Moon continues to say all the right things in his continuing effort to get President Trump to sign up for the recent charm offensive with North Korea:

South Korean President Moon Jae-in flatly dismissed the idea of U.S. troops stationed here pulling out following a formal end to the Korean War, saying the issue has nothing to do with North Korea but only with the Korea-U.S. alliance.

“U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) is a matter of the South Korea-U.S. alliance. It has nothing to do with signing a peace treaty,” the president said, according to his spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom.

In a historic summit held at the border truce village of Panmunjom on Friday, Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to push for a peace treaty that would formally end the 1950-53 Korean War.

Moon’s remarks came shortly after his special adviser Moon Chung-in hinted at the possibility of a withdrawal.

“What will happen to U.S. forces in South Korea if a peace treaty is signed? It will be difficult to justify their continuing presence in South Korea after its adoption,” the former Yonsei University professor said in a contributed articled published Monday by U.S. magazine Foreign Affairs.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but here is something to consider on what could happen with USFK if a peace treaty is agreed to.  Possibly the future of USFK could look a lot like the current THAAD site in Seongju.  President Moon will say all the right things that he supports USFK, just like he supposedly supports the THAAD site, but will set conditions to make it difficult for its continued existence.  In Seongju he continues to allow the blockade of the THAAD site which has made it extremely difficult to sustain and causing the quality of life for the soldiers there to be reportedly very poor.

After a peace treaty is signed President Moon could allow his army of leftist supporters to protest and blockade US military bases to make life miserable for US servicemembers in Korea.  Servicemembers stationed in Korea back in the 2002-2004 timeframe remember how bad serving in Korea was due to the 2002 Armored Vehicle Accident and the massive protests it created.  It got so bad that US soldiers were kidnapped from the subway and forced to make coerced statements in a sports stadium, some soldiers were grabbed off the streets and beaten, and USFK bases were even fire bombed.

Remember Moon Jae-in was the Chief of Staff for the ROK President at the time, Roh Moo-hyun who allowed all the outrageous behavior to happen.  Then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s threat to withdraw USFK was what eventually stopped the protests and attacks on troops.  What if President Moon this time just allows the protests and attacks to continue and the US decides on its own to withdraw?