Tag: USFK

The pool photo released on Dec. 13, 2015, shows the new headquarters of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) being built in Pyeongtaek, southeast of Seoul. USFK is moving its troops in Seoul and its vicinity to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, and officials said the relocation will be delayed to 2017 from 2016. Some 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea to deter North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War ended only in a truce instead of a peace treaty. (Yonhap)

The Camp Humphreys relocation is expected to take another year to complete due to a scandal that sent the construction company into bankruptcy and its Korean owner committing suicide:

The relocation of US forces in South Korea (USFK) to the new base in Pyeongtaek is expected to be completed in 2017, one year later than originally planned.The announcement was made by Kim Kie-soo, director of the office for USFK relocation at South Korea‘s Defense Ministry, and Lt. Gen. Bernard Champoux, commander of the US’s Eighth Army. The two officials spoke to reporters on Dec. 10 at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, which is currently under construction.“As of the end of November, progress on construction of the Pyeongtaek base stood at 86 percent, and most of this will be completed next year.

The relocation of the US army base will begin next year and will for the most part be completed by 2017,” Kim told reporters.This means that the move will take place a year later than promised in the government’s original plan, which had been to finish the move by next year.When asked about the reasons for the delay, Kim mentioned the bankruptcy of Keangnam Enterprises. “With Keangnam Enterprises entering receivership and the former chairman Sung Wan-jong committing suicide [due to scandal], a number of construction projects were halted, and we had to go through a new round of bidding,” Kim said.  [Hankyoreh]

You can read more at the link.

South Korean and U.S. soldiers set up a floating bridge during a river crossing operation as part of a joint military exercise on Dec. 10, 2015, in Yeoncheon, just south of the inter-Korean border, on Dec. 10, 2015. It was the last day of the exercise by the two allies that began on Dec. 1. (Yonhap)

Here is the latest on the protests outside of the Korea Training Center.  Basically the protesters want to get compensation money for the noise from the range.  If the US pays compensation will people living near Nightmare Range going to be the next to complain about noise and want compensation as well?  What about people who live near US air bases, should they be compensated as well for noise?  What gets me is how this is framed as a US military problem when the ROK military uses the KTC as well.  I have never heard of Koreans protesting against ROK military noise?  It would be an interesting fact to know if the ROK military has ever paid out compensation money for noise.

At sunset on Oct. 28, a group of South Koreans gathered outside the gates of Rodriguez Live Fire Complex at Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, some 24 kilometers from the heavily guarded demilitarized zone.

The numbers swelled into the hundreds, with the mostly middle-aged crowd from adjacent villages starting bonfires, singing songs and watching live dance performances. However, despite the seemingly festive atmosphere, hostility could be felt as villagers were there to hold a rally, calling for an end to what they alleged was excessive noise and danger from the U.S. military complex.

“I came here because I’m a resident here. The kids are so scared (because of the noise from gunshots), they keep waking up at night. I wish the noise could just go away,” said Lim Ga-young, a Vietnamese-Korean mother who accompanied her three children and mother-in-law to the rally.

Just like Lim and hundreds of people who gathered to seek compensation for decades of “living in fear,” villagers from near the U.S. shooting range in Pocheon, including in Yeongpyeong-ri and Yamae-ri, have complained about the noise and flying bullets from military shooting drills for over half a century.

The Rodriquez range, just a stone’s throw from North Korea, carries out live-fire exercises, including the annual Foal Eagle war games jointly conducted by the South Korean and U.S. military.

But flexing the allies’ muscles against the communist neighbor ― which remains technically at war with the South since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an cease-fire and not a treaty ― appears to have had unintentional negative repercussions on the well-being of the villagers.

“Living in this area, we are paying a hefty price because of the environment. Some even had to undergo surgeries for health problems. But there has hardly been any real probe or measures taken for us. They just don’t care, that’s why we decided to take the matter into our own hands,” said 62-year-old Lee Eung-soo.

“Decades have passed, but nothing has changed,” said Lee, who has lived in Pocheon for 60 years and works as a barber in his village. “It is hard for me to move because my entire livelihood is based in the city.” [Korea Herald]

You can read the rest at the link.

USFK personnel looking to get a phone through a Korean telecom company will no longer receive the same subsidies that Korean consumers receive unless they remain in country at least two years:

The South Korean government has ruled that cellphone subsidies given to thousands of U.S. servicemembers stationed there on short tours were illegal, officials said Tuesday.

The Korean Communications Commission fined LG U Plus 186 million won (about $161,000) for violating the country’s Mobile Distribution Law, which bars handset subsidies for customers committed to anything less than a 24-month contract.

Thousands of U.S. servicemembers in South Korea are stationed there on one-year tours — particularly at bases north of Seoul where 2nd Infantry Division soldiers often serve unaccompanied.

LG U Plus counts about 7,200 U.S. Forces Korea servicemembers, civilians and others as subscribers, according to a KCC official who spoke with Stars and Stripes on Tuesday.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link.

It amazes me that after already being convicted of forgery that no one scrutinized his divorce paperwork before letting this guy off the hook and allowing him to retire:

Prosecutors in South Korea have reopened the case of a U.S. soldier who allegedly tricked a local woman into a bigamous marriage and left her $50,000 in debt when he returned to his wife in America, according to South Korean news reports.

Rachel Lee, 43, a divorced mother from Chuncheon, said a friend introduced her to Master Sgt. Scott Fuller, 40, in August 2013 when Fuller was serving with the Korea-based 2nd Infantry Division. The pair hit it off and married in a traditional Korean ceremony just four months later. However, documents Fuller submitted to have the marriage recognized in Korea, including Army and U.S. Embassy certifications of his single status, turned out to be forged, she said.

“He’s a con, and he killed my soul and broke my heart,” Lee said of the deception, which was discovered only after Fuller abruptly returned to the U.S. in May 2014. “He just left without saying anything. He totally ruined my life.”

The Army returned Fuller — who was stationed at Fort Drum in New York — to South Korea when it discovered the forgeries.

In October 2014, a South Korean court found him guilty of forgery and sentenced him to eight months in prison. The Army knocked him down in rank to sergeant first class after an Article 15 hearing, according to documents provided by Lee to Stars and Stripes. The details of the case were then verified by a U.S. military official in Korea.

Fuller then convinced Lee, the Korean court and the Army that he had, at last, divorced his American wife after producing what he claimed was a divorce judgment document from a New York court. His sentence was reduced on appeal to a $10,000 fine with no prison time, and his rank was restored. Fuller also used the document to obtain a dependent identification card for Lee that listed her as his spouse.

It wasn’t until August of this year that she found out — from Fuller’s American wife, Marianne — that the divorce document was also a forgery. The Army quickly determined that the document was likely not genuine. Nonetheless, U.S. and Korean officials declined to take further action, Lee said.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link, but what a mess.

Via a reader tip comes this sad news that two Soldiers from the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade were killed in a helicopter crash near Wonju:

A U.S. military helicopter crashed in South Korea during a routine training mission Monday, killing both American pilots on board, the U.S. Army and South Korean police said.

The AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed on a road in Wonju, about 80 miles east of Seoul, a Wonju police officer said.

Two bodies recovered from the helicopter were severely damaged and officials couldn’t immediately confirm their identities. There were no reports of casualties on the ground.

The U.S. Army in South Korea later confirmed the crash, saying the cause of the accident was under investigation.  [Fox News]

You can read more at the link, but condolences to the families of the pilots after this tragic crash.

Maj. Gen. Theodore Martin, the commander of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division, carries coal briquettes on a back carrier in the city of Dongducheon, northeast of Seoul, on Nov. 17, 2015, to deliver them to impoverished residents. The briquettes are used both for cooking and heating traditional Korean homes. The division and the Gyeonggi provincial government delivered 5,000 briquettes to those residents in the city. (Yonhap)

Soldiers affiliated with the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division push a cart filled with coal briquettes in the city of Dongducheon, northeast of Seoul, on Nov. 17, 2015, to deliver them to impoverished residents. The briquettes are used both for cooking and heating traditional Korean homes. The division and the Gyeonggi provincial government delivered 5,000 briquettes to those residents in the city. (Yonhap)

Family members of U.S. service members stationed in South Korea learn how to make kimchi, the Korean traditional dish made of cabbage and chili pepper paste, at a community center in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, on Nov. 14, 2015. (Yonhap)