Suicide Bomber Kills Korean Servicemember in Afghanistan

UPDATE #2:  More information is coming out from the Korean media about the deceased ROK Army soldier SGT Yoon.  SGT Yoon was sent to the United States by his parents to attend middle school and high school in Indiana.  After completing high school he attended the University of Indiana and studied business.  Yoon hadn’t been back to Korea for over 10 years when he decided to go back and complete his mandatory service commitment to the ROK Army.  He could have stayed in the US and applied for a Green Card, but he decided to serve his country instead. 

Yoon joined the ROK Army in 2005 and became a member of the Korean Special Forces and volunteered to deploy to Afghanistan last September against the wishes of his family.  In Afghanistan he was helping teach local Afghanis job trade skills.  He was scheduled to redeploy from Afghanistan in April of this year and complete his mandatory service in May. 

SGT Yoon’s parents and his two older sibling are understandably distraught over this tragedy and his dad condemned the terrorists for killing his son.  What I found kind of distasteful though was how the Korean media are just storming this poor family.  For the love of God give these people some space and let them grieve. 

I really have nothing but the up most respect for SGT Yoon.  He could of stayed in the US, made money, and avoided the mandatory service, but he decided to go back to Korea and serve his country where he was making probably less than $100 a month base pay for a conscriptee.

People in Korea should really reflect on this and ask themselves, like many in America do about our servicemembers, where does Korea find such great people like SGT Yoon?  Koreans should also take note that their military is filled with many other great soldiers like SGT Yoon and should be proud of the selfless service of all the men and women of the ROK Army as well as all those who volunteer to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan and soon in Lebanon as well.

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UPDATE#1:  Milblogger MAJ John stationed on Bagram has a good posting about the bombing that happened yesterday.  Apparantly the terrorists hid the bomb in a shipping container and as the truck got to the front of the gate to be searched the bomb detonated killing an American soldier and a Korean soldiers along with a host of kids and Afghan truck drivers.  Yes the big, bad Taliban is able to blow up a bomb that kills mostly kids and truck drivers and the media is of course hyping the resurgent Taliban threat because they can blow up kids and truck drivers. 

MAJ John also says that Vice President Cheney was over a mile away from the bombing and in no danger.  However, this hasn’t stopped the media from running irresponsible headlines of an assassination attempt on the Vice President.  Would it be an assassination attempt on President Bush if someone blew up a bomb at the front gate of the White House killing civilians and gate guards?  No it would be labeled as terrorism because that is what this was.  That bomb had no intention of ever getting into the airbase.  It was simply blown up to kill as many people as possible to make the very headlines these idiots in the news media are publishing. 

The conspiracy theorist in me also thinks this bombing was used to send a message to the Vice President.  Remember before visiting Afghanistan Cheney visited Pakistan and had some very strong words to say about President Musharraf’s less than agressive policy to fight the Taliban fighters hiding in western Pakistan.  The Vice President’s trip would be quite secret, but assuredly the Pakistan government would have known about it.  Could the Pakistan government had tipped off the Taliban about the VP’s visit and the Taliban rushed to set off an explosion to grab news headlines while at the same time Pakistan could use the bombing as a great big, –ck you to the VP?

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The ROK Army has suffered its first casualty in the War on Terror:

A suicide bomber attacked the entrance to the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan Tuesday during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney, killing at least 14 people and wounding a dozen more. The Taliban claimed responsibility and said Cheney was the target.

Cheney’s spokeswoman said he was fine, and the vice president later met with President Hamid Karzai in the capital, Kabul, before leaving the country.

There were conflicting reports on the death toll. Provincial Gov. Abdul Jabar Taqwa said 20 people were killed, while NATO said initial reports indicated three fatalities, including a U.S. soldier, a South Korean coalition soldier and a U.S. government contractor whose nationality wasn’t immediately known. NATO said 27 people also were wounded.

(…)

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said one of its troops stationed in Bagram, Sgt. Yoon Jang-ho, 27, was killed in the explosion. South Korea has about 200 engineers and medics in Bagram.

It just goes to show that no matter how bad the US-ROK alliance may appear to be politically, it doesn’t effect the relationship militarily between the US & ROK armies, as is shown with US and Korean soldiers dying together in Afghanistan.  I have always found soldiers from the ROK Army to be some of the best soldiers from a foreign military I have ever served with. 

SGT Yoon appears to be no different as he was a graduate of Indiana University in the United States and was serving as a translator a translator in Afghanistan.  Initially it was reported SGT Yoon and the other US soldier were working as guards at the entrance of the Bagram Base when they were attacked which I would find surprising to see a ROK soldier working such a dangerous job an entry point guard due to the Korean government’s extremely risk adverse stance with their soldiers in both Afghanistan and Iraq because of the fear of casualties.  However, Joong Ang Ilbo is reporting that SGT Yoon was actually at the entry point to meet some Afghans he was working with:

According to Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the attack took place at the front gate of the base. Mr. Yun, a sergeant with the Dasan unit, was killed instantly.
Sergeant Yun was on a mission right outside the gate, the military said, escorting residents of Afghanistan into the base for a technology training program.
No other casualties or injuries to the Korean contingent were reported, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding that the terror attack was apparently not targeting Korean troops.

The Taliban is saying that the bomber attended to assassinate Vice President Cheney who was visiting the base which is ridiculous.  More than likely the Taliban got word of Cheney visiting the base and sent this suicide bomber out to strike a soft target near the base to get international headlines of trying to assassinate the Vice President.  It just so happens the softest target around any military base is the entry point where people and vehicles are waiting in line to enter the base.  This cowardly suicide bomber probably simply walked to the front of the line and blew himself and the people around him up. 

What will be interesting to see is how the death of SGT Yoon will be portrayed in the Korean media.  Will his death be framed as an honorable and brave soldier serving his country or a needless death in support of an American cause?   Could this start a movement to withdraw Korean engineers from Afghanistan?  Initial reports are encouraging that the Korean government plans to continue with their reconstruction mission in Afghanistan:

Park said the incident is unlikely to affect Seoul’s plan to keep the troops in Afghanistan.

"In my personal view, it seems that there will be no change in the plan to retain the troops there by the end of this year, as set by the National Assembly," he said

Let’s hope the government of Korea honors SGT Yoon properly as a hero who tried to make life better for the people of Afghanistan instead of ignoring or marginalizing his sacrifice like the Korean government has done in the past with the six sailor killed in the 2002 West Sea Naval Battle. 

Rest in peace SGT Yoon and thank you for your sacrifice in support of the United States and most importantly the people of Afghanistan.

You can read more over at the Marmot’s Hole and OFK.

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CPT KIM
CPT KIM
17 years ago

My condolescent to SGT Yoon's family and his unit.

This former Hoosier gave his life to save this world from Terrorist. I know that close knit Korean Community in Bloomington, IN is grieving over his death. I have been keeping track of Korean American servicemen who are KIA in the Middle East and this is first ROK soldier KIA. (There are over 10 Korean Americans Killed in the Middle East.)

CPT KIM
CPT KIM
17 years ago

Here is a link from Hankyoreh on latest on SGT Yoon's background.

http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/international/arabafri

It says that SGT Yoon came to states as 13 years old and attended Junior and Senior high School and went onto Indiana University. This guy is an almost an American. He could have stayed in states and got himself a work permit to stay in US and never have to come back to Korea. (Could have got himself a Green Card later.) But he chose to come back to serve in the military late in life as conscript SOF soldier after graduating from IU.

Of course that KCNA South (Hankyoreh), would blamed US Army for lack security in Bagram Air Base which resulted in killing SGT Yoon. When did Hankyoreh ever cared about the security in Coalition bases in Afghanistan or Iraq? Until a ROK soldier gets killed? How come Hankyoreh never blamed US Army on security when it comes US military personnel getting killed?

ClearDanger
ClearDanger
17 years ago

We need to start sending the terrorist loving democrats, and their families over to Iraq. I am sure bin ladan and his chums would throw them a big party. I am just so sick of freedom hating democrats that would let terrorist fly jets into the twin towers and then blame freedom as the problem.

trackback
17 years ago

Dawn Patrol…

Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics – from the MilBlogs and other sources around the world. If you’re a blogger, you can join the conversation. If you link……

Hilary Finchum-Sung
Hilary Finchum-Sung
17 years ago

Our family knew Sgt. Yoon when he was a student at Indiana. He was a sweet, bright young man with an amazing future ahead of him. We are so saddened by this news. Our prayers go out to his family.

trackback
17 years ago

[…] Commander General B.B. Bell has released a statement recognizing the ROK Army sergeant killed by a terrorist bombing in […]

MAJ in Seoul
MAJ in Seoul
17 years ago

Been watching this w/ interest since I work here in Seoul. Staff Sergeant Yoon served his country w/out reservation and he and his action need to be commended. What troubles me is the calls from the Korean liberal left that their troops need to come home and have no business dying in foreign countries in the pursuance of humanitarian missions. Yet they don't bemoan that thousands of young men from other the US, Turkey, Greece, New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain and others died defending their nation from the North in the 1950s. The hypocrisy of this boggles my mind, and is self-serving at best, detracting from the selflessness demonstrated by Sergeant Yoon as a human being and a soldier.

trackback
17 years ago

[…] body of the first ROK Army fatality in the Global War on Terror, SGT Yoon Jang-ho has arrived in […]

oneless
oneless
17 years ago

[DELETED: TROLLING COMMENT]

trackback
17 years ago

[…] July1. USFK Soldier Sentenced and Convicted in Grandma Rape Case2. ROK Army Sexual Assault Update3. Suicide Bomber Kills Korean Servicemember in Afghanistan4. Korean Government Warns USFK Commander Over "Undiplomatic" Remarks5. Remembering […]

skippy
skippy
17 years ago

I hate waste and that's exactly what this war is; waste. Waste of money, good talent and people. Shame on you Bush and your war machine.

jtb-in-texas
jtb-in-texas
17 years ago

We are all grieved and lessened by the loss of this brave man…

Muhammad naeem
Muhammad naeem
16 years ago

heloo i really condemn this act of terorism

Francis Shea
Francis Shea
16 years ago

KOreans do owe alot to Americans. I am a Korean-American NROTC(Marine Corps Option) who was adopted by Irish Americans (Family friends through military with my real parents who died), and I know that Korea pretty much owes it's freedom in teh SOuth at least to Americans. As a Korean-American i fee an extreme debt to this country and feel it is my obligation to give back all i can. I wish other korens felt the same way and realized that we might still be occupied by Japan if it wasn't for Koreans AS WELL as Americans and even turks who fought for our freedom.

Francis Shea
Francis Shea
16 years ago

fsdf

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