USFK Personnel To Begin Patrolling Seoul’s Hongdae Neighborhood With Korean Police
I wonder if the Korean National Police requested this or is something USFK has been pushing to do? Regardless I am always uneasy with pushing personnel in uniform to patrol Korean neighborhoods, especially a college district. It just helps to legitimize all the leftist propaganda in South Korea about USFK being an occupying force:
U.S. Forces Korea and Seoul police began joint patrols of the popular Hongdae neighborhood over the Halloween weekend and will continue them through the end of the year, officials said Wednesday.
Although Seoul police haven’t released reports of significant incidents involving USFK personnel recently, Hongdae has been the scene of multiple, high-profile arrests over the past decade.
The neighborhood includes a large college student population and several bars and clubs.
Most personnel in South Korea are law-abiding, but such patrols are an additional prevention measure against misconduct, USFK officials said. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read the rest at the link.
I agree with @GIKorea. However I see the sense in having some sort of presence there as the incidents that might happen are going to be between GI’s and Hongdae students or others. Perhaps CID agents in civilian clothes would be more appropriate given the area. Some leftists will try to use it to further their agenda but given the potential volatility and the potential for abuse of American GI’s caught between Korean police and Korean students, I believe that it is a necessary evil.
@Tagum City Tim, if CID agents were down in Hongdae wearing plain clothes I would have no issues with it. However, what would Americans think if military personnel from a foreign nation in uniform were patrolling Times Square?