Tag: Camp Humphreys

The Asia Times has got it wrong beginning with the title: US Feels Sting of South Korean Priest

The US is not the ones feeling the sting of the South Korean priest, the Korean government most notably the Ministry of Defense and the 20 year old mandatory service draftees being assualted by the priests followers are. South Korea has more to lose than the US if the base consolidation plan fails. Failure of this plan would most likely mean the redeployment of at least the 2nd Infantry Division and possibly other elements of USFK. USFK has no intentions of staying in the Yongsan and 2ID footprints for much longer. The loss of USFK means the end to many USFK jobs that South Korean civilians hold along with the loss of international investment once USFK pulls out. Let’s face it, interenational investors feel much more secure in their investments when they know the US military is safeguarding it.

Here is where else the Asia Times is getting it all wrong:

“No US base,” they shout in Korean. “Save our land.”

It is a daily ritual staged in defiance of thousands of South Korean police against a plan to turn the region of rice paddies and orchards into one of America’s largest overseas bases.

The police control the countryside, blocking off traffic, but the farmers cling to this enclave of sturdy brick homes in a standoff that embarrasses the United States and South Korea – and reveals some of the weaknesses in a deteriorating alliance.

It is not the US being embarrassed here. It is the Korean government that is an embarassment. Any government that would allow young mandatory service draftees to be beaten and assaulted like the young men stationed outside Camp Humphreys regularly are is a joke. This is a perfect example of why mandatory service needs to end in Korea. If the government had to worry about reenlisting these guys, I can guarantee they wouldn’t treat them as meat to feed to the protesters to beat on.

Here is something else that really strikes a nerve with me:

The priest, Moon Jeong-hyun, 69, returned here less than a week after holding out for most of a day on the roof of the school building with nine other priests and two National Assembly members defying the riot police, who drove the activists from the building, some of them kicking and screaming.

A distinctive figure with a flowing beard, often seen holding a video camera as he records prayer meetings and confrontations, Moon and his cohorts were promised they would not be arrested before descending down a ladder from the roof on May 4.

The government let this guy go even though he broke the law. This guy is a criminal responsible for the assaults and injuries of many young police officers and soldiers. Here is another criminal that really shouldn’t surprise anyone that was also let go:

Some wonder if the South’s governing Uri Party is actually encouraging the standoff in which an assembly member from the party, Im Jung-in, is playing a leading role.

Im was up on the roof with the priests before they all came down on May 4 – and has appeared again at rallies in the village. He talks frequently on his mobile phone with party officials, and his presence in the village symbolizes support for the farmers and activists in the government.

This is just more evidence of what an embarrassment the current Korean government is. An assembly member from the ruling party is openly endorsing the assault and injury of the nation’s policemen and soldiers. What a disgrace and the Asia Times thinks the US should be embarrassed?

Oh, there is more:

“South and North Korea are reconciling with one another,” says another priest visiting the village. “We don’t need US forces in Korea at all.”

That’s a view that US officials fear may come to dominate the outlook of a South Korea government already seen as left of center as thousands of police face the unpleasant task of finally removing the diehards from their homes – and the troublesome priest from the village chapel.

I’m not sure if ass kissing and appeasement with nothing in return is really reconciliation but apparently the Korean government and the Asia Times thinks so. Also if this person is so bold to say the US is not needed in Korea than he needs to protest his local congressmen instead of attacking soldiers and police officers. Remember Korea has more to lose than US if the base consolidation plan fails.

I knew it was only a matter of time before the anti-US groups protesting the Camp Humphreys expansion would bring up the “environmental damage” that the US causes to the environment in order to further delay the expansion.

Over the years, they had rebuilt their lives and started new farms. But it was difficult with the American base next door. In 2003, I climbed into the area’s irrigation canals with rice farmer Chong Tay Wah. They were filled with untreated oil run-off from the
U.S. base.

“When the water comes from the U.S. base, the river turns black,” he explained, “and when it doesn’t rain much, the water is really, really black. This is the water that we use for our farming. Before, we could fish from the streams, but now we can’t because the fish all smell like oil and they’re black. It was very delicious before. I caught the fish and ate them, but it’s all over now.”

Under the Status of Forces Agreement that governs the American Army in South Korea, the
U.S. military is exempt from most environmental laws.

Rice farmer Cong Taw Wah told me that most of the time the farmers had to clean up after the Army.

“When the oil is released into the stream, we take the oil out of the stream,” he said. “We put on rubber clothes, and we float paper on the stream. Because of the polluted water, when we enter the water we get hurt. It looks like mosquito bites. Our whole leg turns red. Then we burn the paper in a big fire, and the smoke goes up in the air.”

False information being put out once again.  I don’t know if I can put this anymore clearly, but soldiers in the US Army cannot pour oil into a drainage ditch.  The US military has stringent environmental standards enforced by civilians that work for USFK.  I am willing to compare the environmental standards USFK follows to any ROK Army installation or a Korean industrial area.  USFK bases are actually a oasis from the polluted environment that usually surrounds the compounds.

Look at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul as a perfect example.  After that base is turned over the Korean government is talking about turning it into a park because it is so clean. The claims about USFK not following environmental laws because of the SOFA Agreement are similar to the claims that USFK personnel never get tried in Korean courts after committing crimes, yet USFK personnel are sentenced all the time in Korean courts and there is still a sizable group of people out there who think this does not happen.  It is the same thing with these “environmental damage” claims.  It is all about the big, bad SOFA Agreement again.  Look for the anti-US groups to try and make this issue a second front in their campaign to drum up support from an increasingly disinterested Korean public.

Here is an interesting poll from Yonhap (Hat Tip: Nomad) that shows that the general Korean public is turning against the anti-US hate groups leading the violent protests and attacks on South Korean policemen and soldiers guarding the annexed land for the Camp Humphreys expansion:

More than eight out of 10 South Koreans surveyed oppose violent protests against the expansion of Camp Humphreys, a U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek, a government survey said Thursday. Most of those surveyed also said it was not right for anti-U.S. groups to intervene in the dispute between residents of Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, and the government. The survey was conducted on about 1,000 adults across the country by poll specialist TNS Korea at the request of the Office for Government Policy Coordination last Sunday. According to the poll, 17 percent of the respondents said the expansion plan must be blocked if necessary, even if the rallies become violent, while 81.4 percent said violence should not be used to resolve the matter.

About 66 percent said it was not right for civic organizations to meddle in the matter with the excuse of helping locals defend their livelihoods. Thirty percent said the intervention is needed to effectively frustrate the Humphreys expansion project. Most people viewed the intervention as politically motivated with 58.1 percent, saying it was intended to use regional opponents to instigate anti-American feeling in South Korea. About 35 percent said they believe the organizations have pure intentions for helping the rural residents. In addition, 74.5 percent said it is too soon to demand U.S. troops withdraw from the Korean Peninsula while 22.2 percent answered in favor of such demands by anti-U.S. activists, the poll said. More than 84 percent of those polled said the U.S. troops play an important role in ensuring security on the peninsula.

These results are very interesting and a good sign that the Camp Humphreys expansion will happen. These results are even encouraging enough that I wonder if the Korean President Roh Moo-hyun might actually make a comment on this issue any time soon. It is really despicable how he has left an issue of great national importance solely on the Defense Ministry to deal with while he hides and sucks up to Kim Jong Il.

A number that the anti-US hate groups are sure not to like, is that 74.5% of people surveyed believed that it is to soon to withdraw US troops from Korea. Remember Korean polls can be very dubious, but I still find this to be an encouraging sign.

This will do nothing to stop the anti-US hate groups activities however. If anything they will become even worse because they now don’t have to worry about trying to garner public support. They haven’t come out in full hatred mode yet because they have been trying to win the battle of public opinion. They have lost that battle but not the war over the expansion project. They will now do everything possible to delay the project in order to frustrate America enough to say forget it and pull troops out instead. So expect even more violent attacks on the police and soldiers.  I also expect them to intimidate and threaten workers that begin constructing the base as well. During all of this also expect President Roh to keep his head in the sand and hide.

This is far from over.

Is it any wonder why the Defense Ministry wants to prosecute these rioters themselves when the civilian courts continue to let these violent hate group activists go free:

In a hearing, the Suwon District Court’s Pyeongtaek branch gave orders to set free the activists “deemed to have not participated in demonstrations actively.”
The ruling dealt yet another blow to prosecutors and police who could so far officially arrest only 10 of the hundreds of anti-U.S. activists detained following last week’s bloody protests against plans to expand a U.S. base south of Seoul.

“There is no direct evidence to suggest that they wielded bamboo sticks or damaged wire fences even though they staged illegal protests inside the fences,” Ma Seong-young, presiding judge, said.

Prosecutors will consider whether to again attempt to formally arrest those released after they study court rulings, according to prosecution officials.

As part of stern measures against anti-U.S. demonstrators, South Korea is seeking military trials for protesters who trespass on the planned site for expanded U.S. military facilities in Pyeongtaek.

Just another example of how the civilian authorities continue to let these hate groups assault and injure the mandatory service draftee riot police with no punishment.  Why doesn’t the court identify these people with the bamboo poles and metal pipes by the all the video and pictures of the riot?  It is because they don’t want to.  That is why the Defense Ministry wants to prosecute the rioters themselves.  Normally I would be against military arrests and trials of civilians, but Korea has such an ineffective civilian court system, I am willing to make an exception in this case.  Someone has to stand up and defend the rights of the policemen and so far only the Defense Ministry is willing to take the measures necessary to do that.

I still find it amazing that the Korean President or anyone high up in the ruling government hasn’t addressed what is going on in Pyeongtaek yet.  You have all these injured policemen and the ruling government says nothing to dissuade the hate groups from continuing to attack the policemen?

At least one segment of Korean society has had enough of the violence in Pyeongtaek over the Camp Humphreys expansion:

Parents of soldiers injured in clashes with protesters opposing the relocation of U.S. military installations here roundly criticized the Defense Ministry for not protecting the unarmed troops constructing fences around the base site in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi province.
The violence broke out after anti-U.S. demonstrators broke through riot police lines late Friday afternoon to try to cut down the fences.
Thirty soldiers were injured, a ministry official said; five are still at a military hospital. (….)

Soldiers’ parents turned their wrath on the demonstrators as well as the ministry. “Taking away their helmets and beating up people can only mean they want to kill people. I don’t know whether what they argue for is wrong or right, but it’s hard to understand their actions,” said Lee Gyeong-suk, 45, the mother of Private Lee Kang-woo, 21, who was hit on the head with a stone in the melee.
Police said a task force of 20 officers had been formed to search for and arrest three officials of the civic groups that organized the bulk of the demonstrations around the base area.

Maybe the riot police should get their pissed off ajuma mothers into battle gear to fight these people. I am willing to bet these mothers would beat these rioters up even worse than the riot police did on Friday.

Some how I doubt the Korean Human Rights Commission will come out and demand an investigation of the protesters’ actions like they routinely do of the riot police.

I have a hard time believing this is going to happen:

South Korea’s prosecution said Saturday it will sternly deal with those who staged violent protests against a plan to expand a U.S. military base south of Seoul.

About 540 demonstrators were arrested Thursday after they clashed with riot police and soldiers who evicted them from their headquarters, an elementary school in Pyeongtaek, about 70 kilometers south of Seoul. Hundreds on both sides were injured.

The prosecution requested a court issue warrants to officially arrest 37 of those suspected of taking part in violent protests, said Lee Kwi-nam, head of the prosecution’s public security bureau.

If the South Korean authorities want to discourage the protesters then they need to give them all heavy fines and imprison the ring leaders.  The priest, if you can really call him that, leading these protests is still running around causing trouble.  He is the one that needs to be in jail.  However, enforcing laws is not a strong point of Korean society, especially when it comes to violently attacking 20 year old draftee policemen with metal pipes and bamboo poles like these idiot protesters have been doing.

UPDATE #3: So much for the Gwangju comparisons, the battle is over and the frontlines have been secured. Here is a tally of the final casualties:

About 1,100 protesters and farmers were evicted yesterday morning from the site of a planned U.S. Army base. In a 10-hour operation, riot police with batons, shields and water cannon overran a school where the protesters made a stand. With the area cleared, military engineers moved in to build a concertina wire-topped fence around the area. About 210 people, 117 policemen and 93 protesters, were reportedly injured in the assault. Six policemen and seven protesters were said to have been seriously hurt.
Police made more than 500 arrests.
About 13,000 riot police and 2,800 soldiers were involved.

Of course the human rights commission is on their way:

Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said in a statement, “The actions by some activists to use the people of the area as pawns in a political battle against a national project is detrimental both to the citizens living in the area and the national interest.” Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission dispatched 13 investigators to the scene to ascertain no human rights violations occurred in the day¿s conflict.

I’m sue we will be subjected to human rights complaints for the next few days from these guys complaining about the protesters getting the crap beaten out of them while completing ignoring the fact these protesters were beating the police with their pipes and bamboo poles not to mention the fact that more police were injured in the battle than protesters.

So far it looks like the anti-US hate groups have been dealt a crushing blow as they right now appear to not be garnering any public sympathy for their cause. It appears that their violent tactics and childish ranting has worn thin with an indifferent Korean public. However, I’m sure they will be back using some other tactics, possibly complaining of “environmental damage” on the annexed land by the Defense Ministry. I can assure you that this is not over yet.

__________________________________________________________

UPDATE #2: Here is an Oh My News report with lot’s of pictures from the front lines.

Here is a picture from the school in Daechu-ri, that is a lot of riot police:

Here is a picture of the wire that is being put up around the area being annexed for the Camp Humphreys expansion. For those not in the military this is military concertina wire that is actually very effective for securing perimeters but you have to leave patrols to ensure that no one will put boards over it or digs underneath it.

The Oh My News coverage basically centered around the police beating up the protesters with pictures like these:

Before you start feeling sorry for these union pro-North Korean / anti-US thugs, remember images like the one below. Peaceful protesters don’t weild pipes and bamboo poles at the police. The police after beating the crap out of these guys should have arrested them as well.

So far it looks like the Ministry of Defense is winning this climatic battle and will just need to continue to hold the perimeter from these thugs. I will provide updates as they come out.

__________________________________________________________

UPDATE #1: The rumble is on at Camp Humphreys:

Thousands of police Thursday scuffled with hundreds of farmers, civic activists and anti-U.S. students in an area designated for expanded U.S. military facilities. There have been no immediate reports of

casualties, according to police.
The Defense Ministry sent some 3,000 troops, including 600 military engineers, and about 700 civilian security personnel and heavy equipment to build a barbed wire fence around the area. Engineers started setting up the wire fence at around 7:30 a.m.

No reports of casualties? This sounds like front line war report. Than again the Daechu-ri Elementary School might as well be a war zone:

Police armed with batons and shields were engaged in fierce fighting with stone-throwing labor activists and some residents wielding long sticks near Daechuri Elementary School, a makeshift headquarters for the remaining occupants and civic activists.

___________________________________________________________

It looks like the final showdown between the anti-US hate groups and the Korean government is about to take place to decide the fate of the Camp Humphreys expansion and the future of the US-ROK alliance:

The Defense Ministry and the police have agreed to put up barbed wire fences around the site for a planned new U.S. Forces Korea headquarters to keep protestors from occupying an elementary school and working the fields there. The government plans to mobilize a huge force of some 14,000 troops to evict the resistance on Thursday, raising fears of violent clashes with residents, activists and members of the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions camped out at the Daechu-ri Elementary School in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

What the heck does the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions have to do with a base expansion other than their hatred for anything involving the US?:

On Tuesday, when it became clear that clashes would be inevitable, the secretary-general of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions announced, ¿Workers in South and North Korea came together and resolved to stage an anti-American campaign on Labor Day¿ at Daechu-ri Elementary School, the impromptu headquarters of activists there. ¿It is the U.S. that drives this peaceful land to war and squeezes the public of its blood and sweat,¿ he said. ¿Daechu-ri in Pyeongtaek has its place in our fight against the U.S.¿

It is going to be interesting to see if the Korean government has enough nerve to actually enforce law and order in Daechu-ri and arrest the outsiders like the KFTU thugs that are continually causing problems in Korea.

So what really happened at Camp Humphreys this week?

From the Stars and Stripes:

South Korean authorities under heavy police escort Wednesday took the first steps toward sealing off a large tract of contested farmland that is to eventually become part of an expanded Camp Humphreys.

Some local residents who oppose the expansion scuffled with South Korean riot police and four female protesters were injured and taken to area hospitals, police said.

Police also made arrests but had no immediate word Wednesday night on how many.

The South Korean government has taken control of the land so the U.S. military can triple Camp Humphreys’ size and turn it into its main installation in South Korea by 2008.

Work crews Wednesday began setting up fencing and digging trenches across roads to prevent farmers from working the rice fields, something growers have threatened to begin doing Friday in defiance of the expansion plan.

“We are planning to set up barbed-wire fences,” an official at South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday.

In the S&S article the police stopped the protesters, but the Korean media had a different version of the story.

From the Chosun:

The Defense Ministry and police are not stopping them for fear of violent clashes. Police are, however, stopping any tractors from elsewhere by stationing some 4,400 officers on 11 major access roads and highway tollgates near the area since Wednesday.

“It’s illegal to work fields the Defense Ministry has already taken control of with government permission, but we haven’t used any aggressive measures to stop them because that could provoke residents and activists,” a ministry official said. Instead, the ministry says it will bring them to book for trespassing once it has collected evidence of wrongdoing.

“Collected evidence of wrong doing?” The police saw them breaking the law right in front of their own eyes and didn’t arrest these people! What more evidence do you need?! Expect more Camp Humprheys drama to come.

It looks like things are calming down at Camp Humphreys:

The head of a group representing club owners outside Camp Humphreys said Tuesday he’s hoping to persuade base officials to quickly rescind an order that placed a dozen local businesses off-limits last week and touched off an outcry from the merchants.

Camp Humphreys commander Col. Michael J. Taliento Jr. last week put 11 of the businesses off-limits, alleging they were selling alcohol to underage servicemembers. He put a 12th business off-limits for an alleged instance of prostitution or human trafficking.

Kim Ki-ho, president of the Anjung-ri Merchants Association, said merchants were so angered they hung a banner Friday in the heart of the bar district to protest the move.

“Commander Michael J. Taliento Jr., You go back to Afghanistan again,” the banner read. Taliento served in Afghanistan before taking command of the Area III Support Activity at Camp Humphreys in June 2004.

But the merchants have since put aside their anger and on Sunday afternoon took down the banner, said Kim.

I’m sure they will work something out, the clubs will be on their best behavior, and this whole thing will blow over. Given time, things will eventually be back to business as usual.

UPDATE #4: Budaechigae has got a posting on this that provides a link to a video of the protest.
___________________________________

UPDATE #3: Of course the Marmot has a great post covering the battle at Camp Humphreys.
___________________________________

UPDATE #2: Mark has got more on this at his site. He compares the battle to Pickett’s Charge during the Civil War. Not a bad analogy.
___________________________________

UPDATE #1: Nomad has got more on this at his site. He also draws some conclusions about the hypocracy and greed of the people involved in this from this article in today’s Chosun Ilbo..

____________________________________

Original Posting:

There was a very violent protest that broke out at Camp Humphreys on Sunday. The protesters were protesting the ROK governments move to buy adjacent farm land around the camp to begin building the needed facilities in order to move soldiers stationed on Yongsan and the 2ID area to Camp Humphreys by 2008. Camp Humphreys for the most part is surrounded by rice paddies on three sides which makes Camp Humphreys the ideal place to expand a camp to relocate soldiers.

However, the local farmers don’t think so and have thus begun to protest. Some of the farmers may legitimately not want to move for whatever reason but I have a feeling that many of the local farmers are protesting in order to get a sweeter deal from the ROK government to sell their land. What do they got to loose by protesting? It only helps them in negotiations with the government. These farmers have teamed up with the “peace activists” which I use this term very loosely because would real “peace activists” do this:

This wasn’t violence that just accidentally happened and got out of hand. This was obviously very well planned because the “peace activists” or for sake of clarity I will just call them thug protesters brought plenty of weapons to assault the riot police and brought wire cutters to breach the fence line.

The pictures seem to support my theory that the thug protesters out number the rice farmers at the protest. Basically it appears, I could be wrong that you got the usual suspects (ie-Hanchongryun) that show up at all the anti-American protests joining with some local farmers to raise hell and then they all go back to Seoul drink a few beers and tell their buddies how much fun they had assaulting policemen and destroying private property because that is basically all they accomplished.

Something I find interesting about the thug protesters is that they always try to make things out like they were the victims. Here is this quote from the International Action Center site.

South Korean government dispatched over six thousand police including the notorious 1001 Unit from Seoul. During the ensuing struggle, over 200 people were hospitalized from the brutal attack by the police and hundreds were arrested.

Brutal Attack?! What do you call this picture?!:

This looks scene from Braveheart. I can just picture the Hanchongryun leader yelling, “You may take our lives but you will never take our rice paddies!”

All I see is the thugs attacking the police! I saw the after action review report today and many policemen were seriously injured and one of the policemen is facing life threatening injuries because these people want to go cause trouble and be stupid.

Why should any young policemen be subjected to getting beat down by these thugs? The reason is because nobody does anything to discourage this activity. If you assault policemen you should go to jail. Why should policemen be treated as some ones private boxing bag? Policemen should be held in high regard and they are not in this country. That is why protesters feel free to seriously injure these young mandatory service draftees at these protests. I get extremely frustrated by this because I see these young men getting beat down and these young men are no different then the young soldiers I’m in charge of and I would never subject them to what the Korean policemen are subjected too.

The slogan on the left of the stage says “Drive out the US military” and the slogan on the right says “This land is our life, we will guard it to the end.”

I make a point to periodically thank the Korean police around my camp for what they do. They really do have a tough job and execute their duties the best they can which I appreciate. I wish their own government would do more to appreciate what they do by preventing them from getting injured in the first place by arresting anyone who assaults a policemen. There should be mandatory jail time for this.

Here is some more stupidity from the IAC website:

As part of the U.S. military’s strategic global realignment plan, the role of U.S. military in South Korea now encompasses all of East Asia. To support their new military role, the U.S. military plans to expand their bases in South Korea in addition to building a number of Patriot Missile Bases along the west coast of South Korea, targeting China.

Plan to expand our bases in South Korea?! We have been shutting down bases up here in 2ID land left and right plus redeploying soldiers back to the US to cut troop numbers here. The goal is to get troop numbers here down to 17,500 by 2008 and we are well on our way to achieving that. Plus it is an out right lie that that is being passed here that the US is building PATRIOT missile bases in Korea. The PATRIOT missile batteries are located on Korean Air Force bases in Kwangju and Suwon and also on the US Air Force’s Osan and Kunsan airbases. In addition to this, the PATRIOT missile cannot be used on offensive strikes against China, North Korea, or anywhere else because they are a purely defensive weapon system. A PATRIOT missile is not a Tomahawk Cruise Missile. But these people believe their own garbage they put out.

\
Is this Korea or the Gaza Strip?

I really have no problem with them protesting. It is their right to protest which I fully support. However, I do not support violence and destruction of private property. The only way to stop this is by arresting people and dishing out steep sentences.

Finally what I find most ironic about all of this, is that these same thug protesters that went down to Camp Humphreys to stir up trouble are the same people who protest outside of Yongsan Garrison demanding that it be moved. When a plan is made to move the garrison these same people protest about that. Where do they want us to move to? Out in the ocean? When the USFK says screw you guys we will just redeploy soldiers back to the US these same people complain that the US soldiers can’t go home yet because that may increase the mandatory service time which these protesters are trying to avoid. We just can’t win. So I say screw them and let’s buy land on Cheju Island instead.

Hey, way to go idiots teach the kids to hate Americans early before they even have a chance to meet an American. If the kid is really lucky maybe he will get his head cracked open like the guy below. Why in the world would someone bring children to something as violent as this?