USFK Child Molestor The ROK press has tried and convicted a U.S. military doctor in the press. This will be the format for the coming years to find dirt on the U.S. The Yonhap News stated, " S. Korean Police Book USFK Child Molester SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korean police said Tuesday they booked a U.S. military medical doctor without physical restraint on charges of sexually abusing his adopted Korean child. The 43-year-old man is suspected of sexually molesting his three-year-old adopted Korean son over the past 15 months, said Byun Bu-seop, a detective at the Yongsan Police Station."

(Followup: In June 2004, the Stars and Stripes reported that according to officers of the Seoul District Court, Lance May, a 43-year-old American who practiced medicine at the 121st General Hospital on Yongsan Garrison, will return to court June 7 after an initial May 19 round of questioning. May’s attorney, confirmed the renewed court date and said South Korean authorities weren’t currently holding May. According to Seoul prosecutors, May was charged after South Korean investigators received information from the U.S. Army’s Criminal Investigation Command at Yongsan. The information contained allegations that May had sexually abused a minor. Because the alleged victim is not covered by the Status of Forces Agreement, and because the alleged abuse took place off-duty and off-post, the case is being handled by South Korean courts. May was a civilian doctor under contract to work at the 121st General Hospital, 8th Army officials have said. His contract was terminated in mid-January, the officials said. They declined to disclose how long May had worked at the hospital. According to the 8th Army officials, the command learned of the allegations against May in January — the same month his employment contract was terminated. Citing privacy rules, 8th Army officials said they could not disclose the reasons May’s contract was ended.)

Army Major Murder Trial Another example of sensational reporting is the murder trial of the Army Major who killed his wife in 2003 and dumped her nude body off the Inchon Bridge. The murder trial of Maj. Richard K. Hart, accused of killing his wife and dumping her naked body from a bridge outside Seoul, was scheduled to begin May 17, a military judge announced at his arraignment. At the defense attorneys' request, Col. Edward O'Brien, the 6th Judicial Circuit judge, deferred until March 31 a hearing on how Hart would plead to the charges of murder without premeditation, obstruction of justice, assault and willfully disobeying a superior officer. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a charge of murder can be brought with specifications that the act was premeditated or not premeditated.

The SOFA implications were that the ROK could have attempted to exercise its rights of jurisdiction, but it would have been a technical fight as the crime was against someone under U.S. jurisdiction. The crime was committed on Yongsan garrison but the dumping of the body off the Inchon bridge was off-base. The ROK Ministry of Justice ceded to the USFK jurisdiction. The potential for sensational reporting by the Korean press may surface later though.

EPILOGUE: According to the Jeremy Kirk, Stars and Stripes, "Hart sentenced to 26 years for wife's death" (11 Jun 2004), "Army Maj. Richard K. Hart, arrested last August after throwing his wife’s naked, plastic-wrapped body over a bridge, was sentenced to 26 years Wednesday for the brief brawl that resulted in her death, plus other charges. The military judge’s ruling came at the end of a long, emotional day that included Hart’s daughter breaking down on the stand and Hart himself being restrained by confinement personnel when he tried to approach her on the witness stand. Hart, 45, originally was charged with murder in the death of Patricia Ann Hart, 53, described by the couple’s daughter as an always-smiling but broken woman whose emotional state crumbled as her marriage failed amid domestic violence. But Judge Lt. Col. Edward O’Brien, after 75 minutes of deliberating, found Hart guilty of voluntary manslaughter in an Aug. 9, 2003, spat that left his wife dead on the floor of his Itaewon apartment. The law defines voluntary manslaughter as a provoked, unlawful killing committed in the heat of passion. Hart’s 26-year sentence also covered his conviction on other charges: two aggravated assault charges for his violence toward his wife and daughter Allison, obstruction of justice for stripping his wife’s body and throwing it over the Yongjong Bridge on the way to Incheon International Airport, disobeying a direct order and adultery." ... "Allison Hart, 20, returned to court and continued her statement, saying her father cared only about his job and that she could not believe he would put her mother in a bag and throw her to a “watery grave.” “This is an act of a sad, demented, malicious person,” she said. “I’m embarrassed to call him my father and even more disgusted to have trusted him over the years.” After pleading guilty to some charges Monday, Hart testified that his wife woke him the night of Aug. 9 by hitting him in the face, knocking out two fillings. Hart testified his wife was angered he was not wearing his wedding band, which he’d placed on a night stand. She wrapped a cord around her neck and threatened to strangle herself and throw herself off the balcony, Hart said. The two struggled, Hart testified, saying he may have struck his wife. She fell to the floor, he said, and he left the apartment. When he returned three or four hours later, Hart said, she was dead. He returned to work for five hours and spent the next two days at his girlfriend’s, while his wife’s body lay in his apartment. Korean police arrested him early in the morning of Aug. 12 after they observed him stop his car on Yongjong Bridge and heave her body over the side. Because of the gap in time between when she died and was found, pathologists testified, they had trouble discerning her cause of death."

Seoul Court Orders ROK to Pay Compensation for Range in Paju The anti-USFK judges sitting on the Seoul courts continue to find judgements over land use/abuse against the USFK. As the "injured parties" cannot sue the USFK as the land is provided gratis free, they have started a new tact of suing the ROK who in turn can "ask" the USFK to share the judgement burden. There is a formula over legitimate damages where the ROK and USFK share the burden. Of course, for the range/camp/base usage problems the USFK will refuse and then the ROK can shift the "blame" to the USFK. The Ministry of Defense in the past has requested the USFK to pay its "share" of these judgements -- which is automatically refused as the land is provided gratis by the Korean government. Any judgements are fully the ROKs responsibility to refute in the courts. This ploy has been used repeatedly by the environmental groups such as Green Korea.

On 14 Jan in a "precedent-setting" ruling, a Seoul court ordered the South Korean government to pay compensation to local residents for allowing their property "to be used by the U.S. military without their consent." Since 1973, the government has permitted the U.S. military to use free some 2 million pyeong of land in Paju north of Seoul as firing ranges without consultations with local residents. (NOTE: Notice how this strategy blames the USFK for using the ranges without consent, even though it is the ROK government which grants the land's use.)

The latest round of courts sympathetic to the NGO activist groups cause is underway. The strategy for 2004 is to now attack the ROK government for compensation as the USFK is becoming more than willing to move if confronted by hostile NGO activist groups -- much to the chagrin of the nation as their national defense expenditures are expected to skyrocket by such USFK actions. This strategy would have been unheard of a few years back, but as the USFK starts to turn over lands under the LPP (Land Partnership Plan) the activist supporters are stacking their claims to any land returned to the ROK. The activist groups have learned from their experience with the Yongsan Garrison where the Seoul City government had plans for the Yongsan Garrison, but the Ministry of Defense stepped in and made other plans for disposal of the lands -- especially plans to sell the land to cover the costs of relocating the USFK to Pyongtaek. None of this sits well with many activist groups.

USFK hands S. Korea authority for dealing with traffic violations

By T.D. Flack, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, April 30, 2003

SEOUL — U.S. and South Korean officials agreed Friday to give local off-base authorities the power to administer jurisdiction over privately owned vehicles in the American military community.

The agreement was made during a meeting of a special joint task force formed to improve the implementation of the Status of Forces Agreement between the nations.

South Korea has had jurisdiction since 1966 under Article 24 of the U.S.-ROK Status of Forces Agreement, according to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade statement, but USFK officials administered the rules. The agreement includes tens of thousands of unpaid traffic violations worth nearly $500,000, which have accumulated since 2000.

USFK officials said U.S. soldiers are required to pay traffic violation fines, but the problem has been that violation notices were often received months after troops had left the peninsula and often came without an English translation or clear instructions on how to contest or pay the fine.

"This phenomenon can be seen to be trivial, but it gives Korean public a significantly wrong impression that USFK personnel are immune from local authority's jurisdiction," the ministry stated.

A ministry spokesman said U.S. forces officials requested at last week's meeting that the unpaid fines for servicemembers no longer stationed in South Korea be scrapped.

The spokesman said that was impossible, but that if the fines go unpaid for five years, they are wiped off the books.

Beginning Aug. 1, the ministry said U.S. Forces Korea personnel must register their vehicles with local government offices and "the vehicles of the U.S. military personnel will be treated in the same way as those owned by Korean nationals."

The most noticeable difference will likely be license plates. Currently, privately owned vehicles use license plates with a numeral instead of a Korean character preceding the four-digit plate number.

According to USFK, current plates will be phased out in the reregistration process during the next two years, with a final deadline of Dec. 31, 2004.

The new plates "will likely look identical to ROK plates other than minor modifications as necessary to affix plates to an American vehicle," according to USFK, but the Ministry of Construction and Transportation hasn't finalized the new plate guidelines.

Other changes include:

• Traffic violation notices will be printed in both Korean and English and provided within 40 days of the alleged violation.
• South Korean registration officers will travel to large military bases, such as Yongsan Garrison, regularly to assist in registering vehicles.
• South Korean officials will send a list of unpaid fines to U.S. Forces Korea each month, and within 72 hours, military police will ban those vehicles from going off base or being sold until the fines are paid.
• USFK personnel who commit traffic offenses punishable by license suspension under local regulations will lose their USFK licenses for periods stipulated by South Korean law.
• USFK will conduct random checks to ensure drivers maintain current liability insurance. Ministry officials said they are happy with the changes and expect "that our law enforcement will become much more effective."

"ROK particularly appreciates U.S. initiative to render its support for the effective enforcement of relevant ROK laws," the ministry release stated.

Fatal Accident in Suwon (Nov 03) has Reprecussions: The trial has been touted in the Korean press as some sort of moral victory over the jurisdiction issues dealing with the SOFA. The case itself is cut-and-dried. It occurred off-duty, off-base and is without question one that is in Korean jurisdiction. The only new part is that Sgt Jerry Onken, 33, was the first U.S. soldier to be handed over to South Korean authorities for custody before a trial. Surrendering troops to South Korean courts for pretrial custody was agreed upon as part of a 2001 revision of the SOFA, but never exercised until now. (See GI Kills Woman at Osan with Car and Flees (Nov 2003) for details.)

On 5 February, Sgt Onken was sentenced to three years in prison. The following article is from Associated Press:

Soldier Sentenced To S. Korea Prison

Associated Press
February 5, 2004

SUWON, South Korea - A South Korean court sentenced a U.S. soldier to three years in prison Thursday for killing a woman in a drunken driving accident, then fleeing the scene. Three other people were injured. Sgt. Jerry S. Onken, 33, of Onamia, Minn., was the first U.S. soldier to be handed over to local authorities before trial under revised rules in 2001 giving South Korea greater authority over accused GIs. Onken had admitted drinking three bottles of beer and two whiskey shots hours before the collision at an intersection on Nov. 28. He also admitted fleeing the scene in panic.

Prosecutors had sought a five-year prison term. The charge usually carries a sentence from five years to life imprisonment in South Korea.

Judge Kim Chul-hyun called Onken's offenses "very serious" but said the reduced sentence accounted for Onken's statements of regret and a 13-year military career in which he won 15 awards.

Onken, a member of the 1-43 Air Defense Artillery Battalion based in Suwon, south of Seoul, was expressionless as the sentence was announced. "I'd just like to say, I'm truly sorry for the crimes I have committed," he said.

Under the Status of Forces Agreement, which covers the 37,000 U.S. soldiers stationed in South Korea, Seoul has primary jurisdiction over U.S. soldiers accused of serious crimes committed when off duty. The U.S. military maintains jurisdiction over troops who commit crimes while on duty.

The conduct of U.S. soldiers is a sensitive matter in South Korea, which has played host to hundreds of thousands of American troops since the Korean War ended with an armistice in 1953.

Last year, huge protests erupted across the country after U.S. military trials acquitted two American soldiers of negligent homicide in the deaths of two 13-year-old South Korean girls. The soldiers were on a training mission when their armored vehicle struck the teenagers.

The following is from USFK: Driving in Korea:

There must be a logical explanation why driving in Korea is more difficult than in the United States. At first glance, you can clearly see that there are many vehicles and too few roads to handle the traffic in an orderly manner. This situation may be the reason taxis and other vehicles drive aggressively, weaving in and out of traffic. Buses and heavy trucks are required to use the extreme right lanes but very often wander into other lanes.

In addition, experience is a factor in driving in Korea. Americans have been driving for many years. As a result, we developed and learned safe habits when around motor vehicles. In Korea, the motor vehicle growth was sudden, thus not allowing for the development of safe habits as in the United States.

On every road in Korea, you can expect to find people. On expressways, extra caution is required around road repair and maintenance sites. Maintenance workers are prone to step into the path of traffic and drivers must be prepared to stop immediately. Also watch for workers when going through tunnels and toll gates.

There are many pedestrians in Korea. Traditionally, they have felt that they have as much right to the use of the roads, and therefore expect vehicles to yield to them. This behavior creates a real hazard for you as the driver. It is wise to reduce speed when driving around pedestrians, especially children. Many Korean children have a preconceived notion that by raising their arms, a vehicle will stop to allow them to cross the street. Watch out for them and prepare to stop. Pedestrians also become confused while crossing roads, often stopping suddenly and then moving into the paths of moving vehicles. A common occurrence is for pedestrians to run or walk into traffic lanes from the front or rear of halted or parked vehicles and other blind spots.

Although much of Korea is using the motor vehicle as a means of transportation, there are still some people who rely on other more economical means of transportation. It is not uncommon to find yourself sharing a road with animal or human drawn carts. Even more unpredictable and hazardous are bicycles and motorcycles. They are usually overloaded and unstable. Slow down and give them lots of room, as the operators are noted for weaving into the paths of passing vehicles. Even more disturbing are the motorcyclists who drive on the extreme right side of the road at an excessive rate of speed and pass your vehicle on the right (one should constantly keep an eye on rear view mirrors to reduce the element of surprise).

Change in Color Code for Road Conditions The color code for road conditions in Korea used to be an indication of weather conditions. The weather condition codes for road conditions used to be:

Commanders and Directors are reminded that government vehicles should not be driven in RED or BLACK conditions unless it is an emergency vehicle or the commander/director approves it for mission essential requirements. All personnel are reminded that no vehicles should be parked on roads designated as "snow routes." It is critical for us to keep these roads clear. Vehicles in violation will be towed.

GREEN: Post operations are unaffected. Normal operations. Dry. Visibility greater than 50m; Blowing snow.

AMBER: Roads are passable but with difficulty. Cautious conditions. Unsafe Driving conditions exist. (Pavement wet, covered with snow less than 4 inches or packed slush/patches of ice; fog visibility 20-50m; extremely slow traffic patterns with secondary road closures).

RED: Roads are impassable and danger exists in operation of motor vehicles. Only emergency vehicles and mission essential tactical vehicles should travel. (Pavement wet/flooded/covered with snow over 4 inches with continuous accumulation and/or sheet ice; fog visibility less than 20m; little to no mobility without 4-wheel drive and/or traction devices; primary road closures, several accidents throughout the area).

BLACK: Roads are impassable and extreme danger exists in the operation of motor vehicles. ONLY EMERGENCY VEHICLES SHOULD TRAVEL. (Pavement flooded/heavily covered in snow and ice; snow over 6 inches; fog visibility less than 15m; impassable to vehicles without 4-wheel drive and/or traction devices; primary road closures; stranded motorists).

Highway conditions are color coded as follows:

a. Green - road conditions are normal.

b. Amber - only vehicles essential for official business will be allowed to exit the installation.

c. Red - only vehicles on emergency missions are authorized to exit the installation. An emergency mission is one which meets one or more of the following:

(1) Protection of life and property.

(2) Emergency road repair crews or communication repair crews.

(3) Military police missions.

(4) Transportation regulating mission

d. Black - road is not passable.

FEBRUARY 2004:

U.S. Begins Deploying Upgraded M1A1 Abrams Tanks The Stars & Stripes stated on 7 Feb 2004 that dozens of high-tech U.S. M1A1 Abrams battle tanks had started arriving at Camp Casey to strengthen its war capability by replacing some of the division's older tanks.

Three versions of the Abrams tank are currently in service the original M1 model, dating from the early 1980s, and two newer versions, designated M1A1 and M1A2. The M1A1 series, produced from 1985 through 1993, replaced the M1’s 105mm main gun with a 120mm gun and incorporated numerous other enhancements, including an improved suspension, a new turret, increased armor protection, and a nuclear-chemical-biological protection system. The 2d ID is replacing the M1A1 tanks that it received in 1995. The newer M1A2 series includes all of the M1A1 features plus a commander’s independent thermal viewer, an independent commander’s weapon station, position navigation equipment, and a digital data bus and radio interface unit providing a common picture among M1A2s on the battlefield.

Camp Casey gets first batch of high-tech Abrams tanks

By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, February 7, 2004

Dozens of high-tech, refurbished M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks have started arriving at Camp Casey to replace the 2nd Infantry Division’s older tanks.

Tankers from the 2nd Battalion, 72nd Armored Regiment, Company A braved sub-zero temperatures at a Camp Casey railhead to unload one of several consignments of tanks from carriages Thursday.

Officials said safety was a priority during the unloading process, which involved driving 15 tanks along a line of carriages slightly narrower than the width of the vehicles’ tracks, then maneuvering down a concrete ramp at the railhead.

Ramon Cruz, a civilian Defense Department employee from the Tank and Automotive Command in Fort Hood, Texas, is overseeing the vehicles’ arrival.

The new tanks have the same armor package, capabilities for maneuvering and weapons range as the vehicles they are replacing but have had a host of high-tech features added, he said.

Refurbishment involved stripping the vehicles down to their turrets and chassis, then sending them through the assembly line at General Dynamics’ Lima, Ohio, tank plant, Cruz said.

The tanks now have embedded diagnostic systems that can tell maintenance crews the causes of any problems that develop. The systems cut more than two hours from the time it took merely to set up the old diagnostic equipment, officials said.

The new tanks are also equipped with high-tech "Eyesafe" laser sites.

"The Eyesafe prevents a lot of accidents when it comes to firing the laser," Cruz said. "The old lasers were dangerous to people's eyes and could only be used at a designated laser firing range."

The Eyesafe laser still is dangerous if fired directly into a soldier's eye, but will not do damage when reflected off glass or metal, Cruz said.

The new tanks are powered by the same 1500-horsepower jet engines in the old models and in Iroquois (Huey) helicopters. But the engines, which use aviation fuel, are expected to last longer in the new tanks because digital systems slowly warm them up and cool them down to prevent damage during start-up and shut down.

"We're having better engine run times and better performance, and we're using less fuel than we did with the previous M1A1 models, which did three to five miles to the gallon," Cruz said.

Staff Sgt. Edison Bayas, a Company A tank commander, said electronics incorporated in the tanks will make working with them much different from working with the old models.

"The driving techniques are the same but it's easier for the tank commander, who has a computer display showing where his tank is and where the rest of the platoon is," he said.

"These tanks give us more lethal power. With the tanks we have now, we can do some damage to the enemy, but these will give us greater power," he said.

Maj. Bob Finnegan, 1st Brigade's logistics officer, supervised the tanks' arrival and said the vehicles will be "de-processed" at Camp Casey before being sent into the field.

"All the soldiers are really excited about getting new tanks," he said. The refurbished machines will be issued in three segments, he said: The 1st Battalion, 72nd Armor Regiment in June and July; the 4th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment later in summer; and the 2nd Battalion, 72nd Armored Regiment in the first quarter of fiscal 2005.

“The M1A1 is the best tank in the world,” he said. “It is very exciting getting updated and new models. It will improve the combat readiness and maintain the ‘fight tonight’ posture.”

The division’s old tanks, which arrived in 1995, will return to the United States, where they also may be refurbished or could be sent to a National Guard unit, Finnegan said.

MARCH 2004:

Rift in Intelligence Sharing between ROK and US Reported According to the Christian Science Monitor on 11 Mar 2004, the U.S. military intelligence community is "frustrated in its attempts to obtain information on North Korea - including access to defectors - from the South's National Intelligence Service." Kim Dae-jung's Sunshine Policy caused the present difficulties by gagging defectors from making embarrassing comments on the North. Supposedly, "defectors have had to keep a low-profile in South Korea, partly due to the protectiveness of South Korean officials concerned with offending the North and giving ammunition to US hawks."

While the US has high-tech abilities through satellites to monitor North Korea, South Korea has strength in human intelligence gleaned from defectors. The problem is the Koreans are reluctant to share the information extracted or don't provide everything. Ready access to defectors gives South Korean analysts a better sense of the validity of what they are told and the ROK is reluctant to share its intelligence. Fast, complete access to defectors is vital to the U.S. intelligence community in light of how little the CIA knows about the extent of Pyongyang's nuclear programs, but the access is being denied. The ROK relies almost exclusively on US intelligence information from satellite monitoring, but its intelligence in not reciprocal.

The case of Mr. Hwang, who was a North Korean party secretary before defecting seven years ago is at the heart of the current problems. Hwang and a top aide who defected with him arrived in Seoul from Beijing, where they had sought refuge in the South Korean Embassy, several months before Kim Dae Jung's election in December 1997. Although the government was conservative until Kim's inauguration in February 1998, CIA officials had to wait several months before getting to see Hwang, and they never had the steady access they would have liked. Then, when a North Korean officer in charge of a missile unit and a former senior official at North Korea's Nuclear Research Institute came to South Korea in 2003, the ROK hid them in a rural area.

When a North Korean defector three years ago told that the North had been pursuing a centrifuge enrichment program needed to process highly enriched uranium for the core of nuclear warheads, the information was far from complete. The location of the production plant and related facilities were apparently not identified.

Behind an appearance of cooperation with the US in negotiations, South Korean officials have repeatedly expressed concern about the danger of the "hard-line" US response. They question whether the uranium program has gone far and warn there's no way, short of war, of uncovering all the sites, a number which are hidden in caves scattered throughout the North. As a result, information may be harder to come by than ever.

Actually the trust between the countries hasn't been great in recent years. A few years back the ROK military attache received secrets from a Korean -- a naturalized U.S. citizen -- in the Pentagon. So much for trust amongst allies. (SITE NOTE: This was Robert Kim, a Korean-American who was sentenced to 7 years in prison for espionage. He passed classified information on the 1996 Submarine incursion in Korea to the ROK Military Attache. Kim was released in 2004.)

Soldiers Offered Bonus for Extension On 14 Mar, the USFK decided to give a bonus to soldiers in South Korea who extend their tours beyond the mandatory period. According to a revised regulation, soldiers stationed in Korea will get a special surplus allowance of US$300 every month if they stay for an additional year after completing their initial one year of compulsory service in the country. This is the same type of bonus was offered in 2003 to make up for the shortages faced due to manning demands for Iraq. This action is rather ironic as the DoD is at the same time seeking to curtail Consecutive Overseas Tours (COT) to limit military personnel from spending too much time in Japan/Korea. People with too many overseas tours in one location are being rotated stateside.

The following is the story from Stars and Stripes on 15 Mar 2004:

Bonuses Offered To Troops In S. Korea

Associated Press
March 15, 2004

SEOUL, South Korea - The U.S. Army will offer monthly bonuses to American soldiers in South Korea for extending tours of duty, according to a statement.

The new incentive program comes as the U.S. military juggles operations in Iraq and Afghanistan requiring routine injections of troops from elsewhere.

Washington also is trying to upgrade its forces in South Korea as part of a global realignment that comes amid heightened concern over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

Soldiers who sign on for another year of duty in the South will get an extra $300 a month, the 8th U.S. Army said in a statement released Friday. American soldiers typically serve one year in South Korea.

"We want to keep more of our extremely well-trained soldiers on the peninsula," 8th Army commander Lt. Gen. Charles Campbell said. "Retaining more of that talent in theater for a longer period of time enhances our ability to deter aggression and support peace and stability on the peninsula."

The U.S. forces in Iraq are about halfway through the biggest troop rotation in their history, pulling out 130,000 troops - some of whom have been there since the March 2003 invasion.

The U.S. military in South Korea also is being reshuffled, with plans to leave its sprawling Yongsan Base in downtown Seoul and relocate to sites further south of the capital.

The U.S. military posts about 37,000 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. North Korea's 1.1 million-member military is the world's fifth largest, and U.S. military officials say about 70 percent of the communist forces are arrayed along the heavily fortified no man's land dividing the Korean Peninsula.

Airmen who volunteer to serve a 24-month unaccompanied or 36-month accompanied tour before leaving their current duty station will be offered $300 per month for the duration of the tour. Extension and in-place options will be available to individuals choosing to extend after they are in country. The extension program offers enlisted Airmen three options: $2,000 cash, 30 days of nonchargeable leave or 15 days of nonchargeable leave and a plane ticket to the nearest port of entry. The in-place program pays round-trip plane fare for Airmen and command-sponsored family members to home of record.

Airmen currently in South Korea will be granted a one-time offer to extend their current tours for assignment incentive eligibility. During the "open season," Airmen who previously signed up for the extension or in-place programs may switch to the new program and extend their original tour lengths by 12 months if they have not received benefits from the other programs. They will receive $300 per month from the date they sign the contract until the end of the extended tour.

Airmen with assignments to South Korea will be offered the incentive before they move. Upon arrival, servicing military personnel flight officials will confirm the Airman's intent and begin the incentive if the Airman elects this option.

Those who take the new incentive will not be eligible for the other programs; however, other entitlements, such as hardship duty pay, are not affected by the new incentive.

EPILOGUE: The USFK announced in June 2004 that over 7,000 soldiers had taken advantage of the offer.

---

Potential Damage to ROK-US Alliance from President Roh Impeachment The following is from the 23 Mar Donga Ilbo which extracted an article from the Asian Wall Street Journal on March 23 by Danny Gittings, deputy editorial page editor, concerning the potentially damaging effect that President Roh's impeachment might have on the Korea-US Alliance.

It stated, "After a three-day stay, I found very few Koreans who expected the Constitutional Court to judge following the impeachment proceedings of the National Assembly. No one seemed to think that President Roh’s fate rested on a legal decision. These people launched into “street politics” and welcomed the possibility of President Roh’s return, which were reflected in public poll statistics and candle demonstrations on the streets.

"However, on the other side of the seemingly peaceful demonstration lies a dangerous tendency of striking a serious blow to the military alliance between Korea and the U.S. A Korean expected that the impeachment opposition movement would inevitably instigate the claim to withdraw American soldiers stationed in Korea.

"Despite past public claims of “not lowering their heads to the U.S.” and withdrawal of the American troops, ever since President Roh’s inauguration, the Korea-U.S. alliance recovered their past relationship. This is because he proved his practicality. Although with reservations, he even sent troops to Iraq.

"Nevertheless, there have gradually been changes with the disappearance of factors restricting President Roh. If the Woori Party, consisting of radicals supporting President Roh, establishes itself as the dominant party during the April 15 election and organizes a National Assembly more radical than the President, the restraining force is likely to disappear.

"Presently, public support for the U.S. troops in Korea can only become weakened with the execution of impeachment lessons by the leftist National Teachers Labor Union.

"Perceiving President Roh as having peaceful intentions with North Korea is a more fundamental issue. Pyongyang has taken advantage of this in their confrontation surrounding the nuclear development program. Considering this backdrop, a withering of the Korea-U.S. alliance will only deepen."

---

APRIL 2004:

Acting President Goh Pledges U.S. Alliance Priority On 1 April the ROK's acting President Goh Kun on Thursday called for strengthening an alliance with the US as "No. 1 priority" in the country's foreign policy. Prime Minister Goh, known as "Mr. Stability," has pledged to boost the ROK's alliance with the US since he took over the government as an interim head of state following the March 12 parliamentary impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun.

The reason is that things are progressing quickly in the relocation of forces. The housing project for relocating all of the Combined Forces Command staff has started on Osan AB property just outside the perimeter. Upon completion, the move to Osan will be complete.

On 1 April, he instructed the Foreign Ministry to engage in "omnidirectional diplomacy" to boost relations with the US in government, parliamentary, social and cultural exchanges. "The No. 1 priority in our foreign affairs and security policy is to develop the ROK-US alliance. The government needs to make more efforts to develop a comprehensive and dynamic ROK-US alliance," Goh was quoted as saying.

Goh said that Roh came to power amid "a lot of uneasiness in relations between South Korea and the US," and reminded the Foreign Ministry of the Roh government's efforts to rebuild the alliance with its most important ally. Goh gave his instructions during a regular policy briefing from the ministry. (SITE NOTE: Goh is walking on a fine line of not ursurping power from Roh and maintaining his policies while at the same time preventing any upsurge of anti-Americanism in a time when the nation requires calm and deliberate actions.)

---

US on ROK Anti-American Sentiments According to the Chosun Ilbo on 1 April, the USFK commander Gen. Leon J. Laporte and US Pacific fleet commander Admiral Thomas Fargo attended a US House Armed Forces Committee session and took pains to calm nervous lawmakers who questioned the two about the steady increase in anti-Americanism in Korea and the impeachment of President Roh. Rep. Gen Laporte made it a point to state that he believed the 37,000 troops in Korea were well-trained and battle ready -- with the forces adjacent to Korea also trained and ready to assist if the North should invade.

Kurt Weldon (Rep., Pennsylvania) asked Laporte about public opinion surveys that revealed that most ROK citizens consider the US a bigger threat than the DPRK. The general replied that there are many such surveys being conducted, but if you actually talk with Korean citizens, they firmly support the US-Korea alliance. Laporte also said Koreans want US troops to remain in Korea even after some form of reconciliation has been effected with the DPRK. He said that young Koreans, who have not experienced the horrors of war and have grown up in a time of peace and prosperity, have a different point of view from older, conservative Koreans. (SITE NOTE: All the folks we have talked to -- including Korean family members -- see the reality that the USFK is needed, but they aren't big U.S. supporters. The general's words were true, but he didn't elaborate on the other side that most Koreans wish the USFK were gone even if they supported the U.S. defense in Korea.)

This is not necessarily a bad thing, he said. Rep. Ike Skelton (Dem., Missouri) cited public opinion polls that reveal that feelings of good will toward the US have fallen from 53 percent in 2002 to 46 percent last year. About this, Laporte said Korean citizens treat US military personnel with dignity and respect, the alliance under the Combines Forces Command is rock-solid, and the relationship receives much support from Korean leaders. (SITE NOTE: Laporte was doing some active spin-doctoring -- look at this site for the "rock-solid" support and how NGO activist groups "treat US military personnel with dignity and respect" in the form of anti-US protests in 2002-2003.)

According to Defense Link on 1 Apr, Gen. Leon J. LaPorte told the House Armed Services Committee March 31 in prepared testimony. Most American troops will be moved out of Seoul by the end of 2007, the general reported, and all of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division that's currently patrolling the region north of Seoul will be moved south of Seoul by 2008. Existing military facilities at Osan Air Base and Camp Humphreys, both located south of Seoul, LaPorte noted, are being expanded and upgraded to accept the redeployed forces. The movement of troops will "transform the United States basing posture from its inefficient post-Korean War posture to a stable, less intrusive footprint," LaPorte explained, while focusing "construction investments into enduring facilities within the two hubs south of the Han River." The river runs through Seoul. The LPP agreement, he added, called for the transfer of certain U.S. military missions to the Republic of Korea over the next three years.

However, according to Gen Laporte, "these changes will not decrease readiness or deterrence" efforts on the Korean peninsula, LaPorte vowed, noting that South Korea's modern military has 680,000 active duty troops, with a reserve force of 3 million. Factors enabling the realignment of U.S. forces in Korea include South Korea's improved military force posture and U.S. forces' "state-of-the-art operational capabilities," LaPorte explained. He noted the U.S.-South Korean alliance presents "a potent, integrated team … with the military capabilities to defeat any provocation on the Korean peninsula, deterring escalation that could destabilize the region."

Some Sources on Anti-Americanism in Korea:
• Anti-Americanism in Korea: Winter 2003
• Anti-Americanism and US-ROK Military Alliance: Mid-year 2003
• AreaStudies.org: Q&A: Anti-Americanism in Korea
• Napsnet DPRK Briefing Book: Report for Congress: May 2003
• Korean Conservative View: Flawed logic of Anti-Americanism in Korea -- Korean on the Center for Free Enterprise (CFE) homepage on July 4, 2003. Churle Jung of the CFE and the author translated the article into English.
• Pro-USFK/Anti-North Korea Rally (March 2003) -- Church group attitude that anti-Americanism promoted by "North Korean spies" in the form of NGO activist groups.

---

Incorrect Reporting in ROK Press on Korea's First Bullet Train Service Korea's first bullet train officially went into service after 12 years of construction due to delays caused by cost overruns, route and design changes. The main idea was technology transfer but the ROK initially caused a great deal of turmoil as they constantly renegotiated the contracts -- with a lot of international hard feelings arising over it. The launch of high-speed railway service in South Korea on April 1 reduced demand for domestic air travel by up to 50 percent on routes between Seoul and the nation's major provincial cities. The number of air travelers on routes between Seoul's Gimpo Airport and Busan and Daegu plummeted by 50 percent from the first quarter daily average of 18,976 to 9,452 on the inaugural day of the bullet train service.

Seoul Times, Woo Li (April 2004)

Amidst all this fanfare, the South Korean press opted to slip in an article to stir up the anti-American pot in recent claims that the USFK has a free ride on everything dealing with its existence in Korea. Who started the idea that USFK soldiers traveled FREE on Korean National Railways (KNR) is unknown. The Korean newspapers picked up on this and repeated the story. The Stars and Stripes in turn picked it up and printed, "YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — The U.S. military wants to meet with the South Korean government this week to discuss what, if any rates, might be charged for U.S. servicemembers to use the country’s new high-speed train for military business, officials said Monday. The South Korean government pays for U.S. troops’ official travel on the slower Korea National Railroad trains but no arrangements have been discussed for using the new Korea Train Express (KTX), officials said. Base transportation officials want to meet this week with South Korean government railroad officials to discuss who pays for using the new line, said Steve Oertwig, Korea Regional Office spokesman."

The stir focused around the claim that USFK troops on official duty could ride the Korean National Railways (KNR) trains FREE if on official duty which the USFK claimed was untrue. The Korean Press alleged that the USFK would enter into negotiations on the use of the KTX highspeed train by the soldiers on official duty. THIS WAS NOT TRUE. The reason this minor issue is taken seriously is that the media has started to print articles of the USFK "free ride" on everything. This is the new tact to claim the financial costs are "unfair" for stationing troops in Korea because the ROK is being held to its agreement to foot the moving costs from Yongsan to Pyongtaek. The USFK quickly reacted to because of the recent upsurge on NGO activist group erroneous claims of the U.S. getting "free land" and "free housing and buildings" at Pyongtaek in preparation for the move from Yongsan.

The USFK Website ran the following article on 1 April.

USKF CLARIFIES KTX TRAIN TICKET QUESTION

YONGSAN ARMY GARRISON, April 1, 2004 - Recent media headlines regarding the cost of KTX train tickets are incorrect and we wish to clarify the facts concerning official US military travel on KNR trains and the question of KTX travel for official business.

A Stars & Stripes reporter asked whether USFK would use the KTX for official travel and whether they would get a discount, as they do now on KNR.

A public affairs spokesman replied by saying that details about use of the KTX for official travel was not yet available, but that officials would hold meetings "to discuss use of the KTX for official travel." This is a direct quote from the original release.

Stories, however, claimed that USFK intended to ask for “free rides” on KTX. These reports are false.

Here are the facts:

• U.S. military members on official duty do not get free rides on KNR trains. The train tickets are paid for by money from the Defense Burden-Sharing program. (SITE NOTE: From a Korean perspective, this means THEY pay the cost and the soldiers ride FREE.)
• U.S. military members on official duty or on personal trips are offered a 10 percent group discount on KNR ticket rates.

USFK officials have not discussed KTX with Korean National Railroad officials, but will inquire as to their policy at some point in the future.

---

New USFK Car Policy Defended