Tag: USFK

In response to Senator Lindsey Graham’s recent comment that the Pentagon should consider moving military dependents out of Korea, the Defense Department says they have no plans to do so:

The United States currently has no plan to move military dependents out of South Korea despite rising tensions with North Korea, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea to deter North Korean aggression after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

Commenting on North Korea’s latest launch of a long-range missile last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) argued Sunday that the U.S. should stop sending military dependents to South Korea and transfer those that are already there.

“The Department of Defense currently has no intent to initiate departures for military dependents, whether on a voluntary or mandatory basis, and no intent to modify the policy authorizing military dependents to accompany military members being stationed in South Korea,” Lt. Col. Chris Logan, a Pentagon spokesman, said in emailed remarks to Yonhap.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link.

The corruption probes and investigations surrounding the expansion of the US military base Camp Humphreys in South Korea continues:

South Korean prosecutors have raided the offices of one of the nation’s largest conglomerates amid allegations it offered multimillion-dollar kickbacks to the US Army in exchange for construction contracts.

Dozens of investigators were dispatched to the headquarters of SK Engineering and Construction in downtown Seoul on Friday to confiscate computer hard disks, documents and other material related to construction projects at a new US army base in South Korea’s Pyeongtaek county.

The prosecutors are investigating allegations that the company — an affiliate of the nation’s third-largest conglomerate, SK — gave almost $3m to a US army officer in 2010 to steer a $420m dollar construction contract in its favour.

The officer, Duane Nishiie of the US Army Engineers Corp, was indicted in September in Hawaii on charges including bribery, wire fraud and money laundering related to the case. Lee Seung-ju, a former officer in the procurement department of Seoul’s defence ministry, was indicted on the same charges.

SK Engineering and Construction declined to comment. US Forces Korea was not immediately available to comment.

“The raid was needed to look into the bribery claims linked to a US military contract,” the prosecutor in charge of the investigation told the Financial Times.   [The Financial Times]

You can read the rest at the link.

I am not sure if the Pentagon is ready to sign up for this yet because removing US military dependents even gradually from South Korea would cause huge concern in South Korea:

Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday that he believes it’s time to start moving the families of American military personnel out of South Korea as North Korea pushes the U.S. closer to a military conflict.

Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he will also urge the Pentagon not to send any more dependents to South Korea.

“It’s crazy to send spouses and children to South Korea, given the provocation of North Korea. South Korea should be an unaccompanied tour,” the South Carolina Republican said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” ”So, I want them to stop sending dependents, and I think it’s now time to start moving American dependents out of South Korea.”  [Stars & Stripes via a reader tip]

You can read the rest at the link, but I think the South Korean government would be highly concerned if dependents are removed because it could be taken as a sign that the US is preparing for military action even if that is not the case.  Additionally will foreign investors keep their money invested in South Korea if they feel a potentially destructive war appears to be coming with the US removing dependents?  This is why I think the Pentagon will be very careful about if and when they remove dependents from South Korea.

The 2nd Infantry Division has a new Command Sergeant Major to help lead the move to Camp Humphreys:

The 2nd Infantry Division has a new senior enlisted adviser to help oversee its move from camps near the Demilitarized Zone to a state-of-the-art base south of Seoul.

Division Command Sgt. Maj. Phil Barretto took responsibility from Command Sgt. Maj. Edward Mitchell on Friday during a ceremony at Camp Casey.

“[Barretto’s] fired up and ready to go,” said Maj. Gen. Scott McKean, the division’s commander.

Barretto, former commandant for the Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Fort Drum, N.Y., arrives on the peninsula with 26 years of experience that includes previous tours to Korea and deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

The Stars & Stripes has a good read about the actions the American medical evacuation team took to save the life of the North Korean soldier who defected across the Joint Security Area and was shot five times by his comrades:

The crew had just returned to Camp Casey, a base near the heavily fortified frontier that divides the peninsula, after a more than three-hour training mission when radio operator Pfc. Karina Lopez told them to stand by for a real mission.

After initial confusion about whether the team was needed, Lopez got the call at 4:04 p.m., about an hour after events had begun to unfold, and the team took off five minutes later.

“That’s when I started … calling the hospital, trying to figure out which hospital they were going to take him to,” said the 20-year-old from Raleigh, N.C.

Singh and his teammates had only basic information that somebody had suffered a gunshot wound to the torso at the Joint Security Area. But that was enough for concern.

“I was in Iraq and Afghanistan … that’s what you expect there,” said Gumm, the 37-year-old pilot. “Here you’d expect a concussion or the other types of missions that we’ve had, not a gunshot wound to the torso. So it was surprising.”

It took about seven minutes to get to Camp Bonifas, the base near the JSA, where more than a dozen people met them carrying the wounded soldier on a stretcher in a chaotic scene.

“We had to kick some people out of the helicopter,” said crew chief Spc. Carroll Moore, 25, of Lenoir, N.C., adding there was only room for two escorts from the security battalion.

Singh, 39, of San Antonio, said he immediately spotted signs that a lung was in danger of collapsing so he did a needle chest decompression, with a 3.5-inch needle. He also worked to stop the blood from hemorrhaging.

The defector, who was in and out of consciousness, asked for water at one point, but Singh said he couldn’t have any because of the nature of his wounds.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the whole article at the link, but great job by everyone involved to save this defectors life.

Here is another example of strategic assets being used as a show of force towards North Korea:

The United States is planning to send six F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets to a joint air force exercise in South Korea next month in what is believed to be U.S. action to put maximum pressure on North Korea, military officials here said on Thursday.

“Six F-22 fighters from the U.S. Air Force are scheduled to join the joint South Korea-U.S. air force exercise Vigilant Ace from Dec. 4-8,” the officials said.

The fighters will fly to the Korean Peninsula from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan and stay at an air base in South Korea throughout the exercise, according to officials. Up to four F-35A Lightning stealth fighters are also likely to join the deployment, they said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

This will probably be an award these soldiers will remember for the rest of their lives considering the unusual circumstances leading to the award and who presented it to them:

In recognition for their efforts in rescuing a North Korean defector, Nov.13, Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea commander, awarded Joint Security Area Soldiers the Army Commendation medal, during a ceremony Nov. 23.

Awardees are Sgt. 1st Class Noh Yeong Soo, Sgt. 1st Class Song Seoung Hyeon, Sgt. Robert Hartfield, Maj. Jeffery Schmidt, Lt. Col. Kwon Young Hwan, and Lt. Col. Matthew Farmer  [USFK Facebook]

You can watch video of the award presentation at this link on the USFK Facebook site as well.  Basically the soldiers received an ARCOM because they were able to pull the North Korean defector to safety while at the same not escalating the situation or violating the armistice like the North Korean soldiers had already done.

A group of U.S. soldiers stationed in South Korea joins an event in Seoul on Nov. 21, 2017, to donate coal briquettes to the impoverished. (Yonhap)

Make no mistake that the only reason the anti-US groups want increased transparency is to use any documents they can demagogue and not provide full context of to inflame public opinion against USFK:

In a major step to enhance transparency in American forces stationed here, South Korea and the United States agreed on Tuesday to make public any non-confidential information they have in relation to the United States Forces Korea.

“The Joint Committee discussed cooperative efforts to further enhance transparency of SOFA-related affairs with the Korean public,” the allies said in a joint press release following the 198th joint committee meeting of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) earlier in the day.

SOFA is a bilateral agreement detailing the legal terms for the U.S. stationing of some 28,000 troops in South Korea.

“The Joint Committee agreed to cooperate in every possible way to disclose non-confidential information related to SOFA implementation agreements to enhance public awareness and use well-established SOFA procedures,” according to the joint release.

Each year, the allies produce about 100 documented agreements and they will all be made available for public view except those that are classified as military secrets or have special reason for nondisclosure, a ranking ministry official said.

The latest agreement came amid increasing local civil demand for more transparency in matters related to the USFK’s more than six-decade stationing in the South against potential North Korean aggression.

Claiming the public right to know, two civil rights groups have filed an administrative litigation, demanding the defense minister disclose details of the South Korea-U.S. negotiations leading to the deployment of the American defense system Terminal High Altitude Area Defense in South Korea.

The Seoul Administrative Court, however, dismissed the civic groups’ suit, saying the information is classified.

Environmental pollution at American military bases in South Korea has also led to increased calls for public access to USFK-related information.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

I agree that the word “American” should be kept in the name of the school to distinguish it from other international schools in South Korea:

After a public outcry, the word “American” was restored to the name of the soon-to-be-consolidated middle/high school at the Army’s Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, officials said Wednesday.

“Please know that we acknowledge and appreciate the proud legacy of our Seoul American Schools,” Lois Rapp, a Department of Defense Education Activity official, said in an email. “The combined school will be named Seoul American Middle/High School.”

Falling enrollment due to the ongoing move of U.S. troops and their families to Camp Humphreys as the military transitions its headquarters 40 miles south of Seoul prompted DODEA to combine the Seoul American Middle School and the Seoul American High School.

In a memo to parents and a recent town hall, school officials said the combined school would be called the Seoul Middle High School.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link.