Korean Residents Discusses Changes After Camp Howze Closed
Via a reader tip comes this article in the Hankyoreh that discusses the changes that happened to the village outside of Camp Howze after it closed:
Fifteen years after the departure of the US military base at Camp Howze, the nearby camp town remains frozen in the past like a broken clock.Visiting on Sept. 17 with residents of Bongilcheon No. 4 village from the township of Jori in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, I saw that the vacated buildings of the base in the village’s back hills were still in good condition – but the village itself has faced a rapid decline amid delays in an urban redevelopment project. Previously a quiet farming community of some 50 families on the banks of Gongneung Stream, Bongilcheon No. 4 underwent a full-scale transformation with the sudden arrival of foreign armies when the Korean War broke out in 1950.
Hundreds of people came from all over South Korea in search of employment, including sex workers; they set up tents in front of the US base or rented rooms as they went to work selling services to US soldiers.
The village’s oldest resident at 95, Lee Jae-choon explained, “Now that the US military base is gone, everybody’s scattered, and it’s only the people with no place to go who have settled down and made it their second home.”
Hankyoreh
You can read more at the link.
A better title would be “After 15 Years of Korean Government Control, Area Outside Former US Bases Face Economic Disaster”…
Because that’s what happened. The Korean Government took back the land and did squat with it, refused to build up the town–and now a bunch of bitter old guys who missed the train whinge to the local commie rag about stuff that might not have ever happened long after everyone who could corroborate or object is dead.
Sad Uncle War Bucks is gone and they can not get anymore of my tax dollars.
Or personal tips bagging at the Commissary.
Probably…these 3 did have the where with all to work in AAFES or DECA to get a piece of that sweat black market action, if they did they still wouldn’t be around old camp Howze.
There’s so much wrong with the way this article was written but I’m much more interested in getting a piece of this sweat black market Flyingsword mentioned! Can I get the sweat of my favorite K-Poop Girlband? 😎
Whatever happened to the $18.3 million dollar community center that was going to be built?
Probably the same thing that happened to the educational campus that was supposed to be built where Camp Colbern was.
I don’t agree with the negative comments on the community that remained. I had very positive experiences with the people of Tongduchong and several other ROK cities.
People tend to stay where they were born if there is no outside impetus to move.
Drago, you’re undoubtedly correct about everyone except the whingey old dudes in the story… Who forget what Americans faced when they first assayed to assist in opposing the norkistani Uni…
In photo they are standing at the rear gate house. Camp Howze had about 66 buildings when closed. Today six remain. The article claims they are in good shape, not true. Only three have not been heavily vandalized. Surviving are the Commissary bldg, gym, two administrative buildings, BOQ, and community center.
I wonder if the pagoda is still there?
What a waste. I was at Camp Howze in 1995. I was at the top of the hill at Charlie Company. The barracks were some of the nicest in the Army at that time. To look at satelite images of the camp recently I was appalled by what I saw. Most of the buildings were gone. I did notice that C company barrack was still there. However, that was google earth so its probably gone by now. I guess they got what they wanted which is the US gone. Just hope they can handle themselves if confronted by an invasion by the North. I was hoping at some point to go and visit what was left of Camp Howze. At least I still have Camp Howze in my heart and memories. To me it may be gone, but definitely not forgotten.
Interesting! I’m researching Gyeonggi-do because that’s the name my husband gave me when I asked him where he went to clubs to buy sex when he was stationed in Korea in 1966-67. He was drunk much of the last two months he was there so he doesn’t remember names or details or says he doesn’t. Camp Howze sounds familiar to him though. he claims to have no good memories of the times he spent in the clubs with the prostitutes but then he wouldn’t would he. I was curious about the women he was so anxious to have sex with that he was willing never to see me again even though he was writing love letters to me and to risk getting an STD. Typical American G.I. I suppose. He said the stench when he was with each of the women in the different clubs was overwhelming but apparently filth, disease, stench & having sex with women who 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after him were going to be having sex with his friends didn’t bother him. There is such a double standard when it comes to what husbands are cheered along for doing and what wives are condemned for doing. If I’d gone to clubs and had sex with five or six men while he was deployed I’d be ostracized. He not only wasn’t ostracized, he was deemed a hero for having “served.” Hilarious. My wish is that every married G.I. who enjoyed being catered to by the Korean women he paid to be “nice” to him will one day realize he was supporting sex trafficking and indentured servitude of those women & that each child fathered by an American G.I. will find that G.I. They are searching for their roots — prostitute mothers & G.I. fathers. There was a great injustice done in those camptowns with the U.S. government working in conjunction with the South Korean government to pimp those women.
So sorry for your failed marriage, Ma’am…
However, this is probably not the best place to air your private laundry, drama, and racist tropes.
May I suggest you find a priest or pastor or professional counselor?
Linda. Baby. That was 54 years ago. Time to let that go before it ruins the rest of your life.
Linda Chudej, your story cannot be true. It is an absolute truth that all the GIs in Korea were and still are all angels. Please stop badmouthing American men in uniform. Men like Setnaffa… how dare you to accuse him of buying his prostitute wife?
Most (99.44% in my experience) Koreans are really nice people when you get properly introduced–just like most people in any non-communist country. They’re typically a bit shy around strangers due to the Confucian relationship matrix thing; but once they know where you fit, they are no different than anyone else.
When you encounter someone who calls themselves Korean yet writes openly vile messages on someone else’s blog, i.e., someone who “acts like they have no family”, it’s often because they were seriously abused as a child and/or have a serious substance abuse problem.
I really think if that person has friends they should help them get the counseling and other help they need. Being that much antisocial during the holidays is an indicator of potential suicide, a real call for help.
Linda Chudej is either KM’s mother or that old lady from the movie Tommy Boy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRqmr8rnKUg
Ma’am not every GI ran down to the ‘ville every night to have sex as you seem to imply. I made friends with my Korean roommates and any sexual activity I had while I was there is frankly none of your business, but did not involve prostitutes out of respect for my roommates. The sex industry in Korea during the 20th Century is very complex and confusing. If you are so into research perhaps as you pillory your ex-husband for his sins, here are a couple of terms to research off the top of my head “comfort women” “room salons” As for the STD part of your post, I cannot speak for every town but our physicians routinely went into town, met with the bar owners and their “girls”; gave them physical exams and STD tests. If a woman was positive she given antibiotics to fight the infection and asked to require her clients to wear condoms. I understand in the 1990s the US stepped up their efforts to curb prostitution around US bases but the Korean government has done little to curb prostitution elsewhere.