Tag: Dongducheon

Dongducheon Mayor Withdraws Friendship Agreement and Other Programs with 2ID

| January 19, 2015

This sounds like another populist antic, by the Dongducheon Mayor because the city could have the land tomorrow if the Korean government agreed to accept it:

Angered by the U.S. military’s continuing possession of a long-vacated base, a city near the North Korean border is taking steps to “show its will,” from canceling friendship activities to forcing troops to go to municipal hall to register their cars.

Dongducheon, home to the 2nd Infantry’s Camps Casey and Hovey, notified the military Jan. 9 that it would withdraw its staffer handling private vehicle registrations for troops from Casey on Monday, forcing them to travel to city offices about a mile away.

“It was the quickest and easiest measure we could take under the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) and Korean domestic law,” the chief of a city office handling U.S. Forces Korea affairs said.

Dongducheon also plans to halt tours of the city for incoming 2ID soldiers and will no longer invite U.S. troops to take part in its annual Lunar New Year’s Day ceremony next month, he said. The city is also considering halting other friendship events with 2ID.

At issue is when U.S. Forces Korea will return Camp Castle, which it said closed in 2010, to South Korean control. The city says negotiations on the return that have been going on for several years have been postponed.

USFK said in a statement it is ready now to turn over 38 acres about 1.8 miles from city hall.

“Camp Castle will be returned as soon as the (South Korean) government agrees to accept the return,” the statement said. The command would not elaborate on why the handover has apparently stalled and referred questions to South Korea.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the two countries are currently discussing the handover of the base through Status of Forces Agreement channels including an environmental subcommittee, but the timing of the return has not been decided. The ministry did not provide further details.

Dongducheon had hoped to turn the vacant base into a university campus that city officials believe would bolster the local economy.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but with just about every USFK camp closeout and handover environmental clean up has been a big negotiating point.  This is because the Korean government tries to get USFK to pay as much for the clean up as possible even though by the letter of the SOFA the camps can be turned over as is.

Dongducheon Mayor Complains that US Troops Do Not Spend Enough Money Off Post

| December 16, 2014

I wonder if the juicy bar owners are the ones pushing the mayor to make these complaints because they are the ones currently losing big money due to USFK’s decision to ban servicemembers from giving money to juicy girls:

usfk logo

The mayor of a city near the North Korean border is seeking $2.7 billion from the South Korean government, claiming the delayed relocation of American troops from Dongducheon is hurting the local economy and redevelopment plans.

City officials say Mayor Oh Se-chang told Defense Minister Han Min-koo that if Dongducheon — home to camps Casey and Hovey — doesn’t see some show of support from the government by the end of the year, the city will consider holding a large demonstration and a nonbinding referendum on whether U.S. troops should remain there.

Approximately 5,900 soldiers are assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division in Area I, which extends from just north and east of Seoul up to the Demilitarized Zone.

“If U.S. troops want to stay in Dongducheon, they should be of help to the local economy or all of them should go away,” a city official said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity. He said troops should be spending more money at off-post Korean-owned businesses instead of shopping solely at post exchanges or other on-base facilities.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but basically the mayor just wants to get paid off by the national government to keep quiet.  Also of interest in the article is that a spokesman said that Camp Casey is now scheduled to be handed back over to the local government in the 2020 timeframe.  I will believe that when I see it.

A Profile of Korea’s Teokgeo-ri Ville

| August 13, 2011

Narrative

The city of Dongducheon is well known for being home to Camp Casey and soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division.  This has made the Bosan-dong ville across the street from Camp Casey the main shopping and bar area for Soldiers stationed at the camp.  However, Bosan-dong isn’t the only ville in the Dongducheon area.  Camp Hovey is a smaller camp accessed from Camp Casey by a small valley known as the Hovey Cut between the two camps.  Just outside the gate of Camp Hovey is the small village of Teokgeo-ri:


Note that Teokgeo-ri has been spelled Toko-ri in the past.

At one time Teokgeo-ri was one of the sleaziest villes you could find in Korea since the clubs had to go out of their way to attract GI customers from the much larger and popular TDC Ville.  If you have ever watched the first Stars Wars movie and remember the bar with the space aliens in it in the city of Mos Eisley, that is what Teokgeo-ri was like a few years ago.

Obi-wan Kenobi once described Mos Eisley as a “wretched hive of scum and villainy”, Toko-ri wasn’t much different. However, instead of horned, green, or beady eyed aliens, Teokgeo-ri had Filipino and Russian juicy girls covered in chocolate and wax, a retarded barmaid, strippers that used to hold what was known as the P***y Olympics led by a Korean woman known as the Dragon Lady who did anatomy defying things with cigars and beer bottles, and to top it off there was even a midget. Before I had even ever stepped foot in Korea I had heard about the “Midget of Teokgeo-ri” from old crusty NCOs about how they used to “stick to the midget” especially on New Years; that is how well known she is in the US military. After seeing the midget for myself I can’t imagine why anyone would want to “stick it to the midget”, but hey to each their own.

Since I don’t have anything to do with the ville any more I’m not sure if any of this still goes on, but from what I hear Teokgeo-ri has really died down and even the midget has left the ville in recent years.  I hear that the clubs in an effort to stand out from their competition in the TDC ville are more active in prostitution.  Anyone know if this perception is true or not?

I started my walk around Teokgeo-ri from the main road that runs through the center of town.  From this road I noticed the first club I saw called the Black Jack:

As I continued to walk down the road I also saw the Fox Woods Club:

At the end of the street the road leads to Highway 364 which is a scenic drive up and over the mountains to Pocheon. I took a left and followed a small side road that leads to Camp Hovey:

The side road follows a creek on its eastern side and on the western side are more buildings from the village.  Here is the view looking across the creek towards the farm land from the side road:

Here is the view of the buildings I was approaching as I walked down the road:

This cluster of buildings were more clubs servicing Soldiers from Camp Hovey.  The first club with the Joy Club:

Next was Club Bounce and Club Hooah:

Here is the view looking back at these clubs:

Here is the view of the creek that runs through Teokgeo-ri and also flows through both Camp Hovey and Camp Casey:

This creek looks harmless enough now but when there is sustained rain this creek can really get swollen and flood which is something Camp Casey and Hovey experienced in recent years.

Here is view looking in the other direction across the rice paddies that border Teokgeo-ri:

As I walked further down the road I came upon this bridge that crosses the river:

Across the bridge there is a road that leads to Beaver’s.  Beaver’s is a BBQ restaurant frequented by US Soldiers that has been the subject of controversy in the past.  However, it was about this time that I started getting rained on pretty heavily and just decided to walk back to my car as quickly as possible instead:

As walked down the road Camp Hovey came into view:

The road in front me leads through this narrow ville, which I have had a few interesting times trying to drive a Humvee through before:

Instead of walking down the road towards Camp Hovey I took a left and headed back towards the downtown section of the city instead:

Along the way I walked by this US Army friendly hotel:

I then walked by the villages Post Office that appears to be having a problem with people leaving trash on their premises:

Here is a picture of a chicken and beer joint I passed as I walked through the ville:

Here is a side street in the middle of Teokgeo-ri I then followed where more clubs are located:

First is the DMZ Club:

Then there is the Grand Illusion:

Followed by Club NBA:

Here is the view looking back down the street at the clubs that I walked by:

From this street I then walked up a side alley to take me back to where I parked on the main road through town:

Along this road I saw few more clubs such as Club Obsession:

I then walked by the UN Club:

After coming back upon the main road through Teokgeo-ri I noticed a sign for the D&G Club:

Right next to the D&G Club was what was left of this burned down club:

Here is one final view of downtown Teokgeo-ri:

Conclusion

If it wasn’t for the fact that Teokgeo-ri is a sleazy ville it actually would be a nice place to live due to its scenic location.  The valley is quite beautiful and some people are starting to take notice of this fact as more and more large and expensive homes are being built along the hills around Teokgeo-ri.  I do have to say that in the past 10 years Teokgeo-ri has come a long ways and is not as sleazy as it once was.  Who knows maybe some day after the US military relocates from Dongducheon to Camp Humphreys further down south, maybe Teokgeo-ri will become an area more affluent people build their homes to take advantage of the village’s beautiful scenery?  With that said that concludes my walk around Teokgeo-ri.  If anyone has anything they want to add about the various clubs in the village and experiences they had in Teokgeo-ri in the past please share with everyone in the comments section.

Note: You can read more from the ROK Drop featured series “A Profile of USFK Bases” at the below link:

Comments

The flood in ’98 spawned most of the rebuilding you see today. While they have slightly polished the turd, it’s still a worthless cesspool of Horny GIs ,Flip whores, Soju laden Whiskey and Skunk OB.

I am wondering if there is any such thing as “skunk OB”.

In all the years of selling Korean beer, I never had a complaint about any of the beer tasting skunky.

Nor, outside of a GI ville, have I had strange-tasting Korean beer.

I suspect that “skunk OB” has more to do with the habit of GI bars refilling used bottles with draft beer and loosely recapping them by thumb in the afternoon.

Then, they go into the beer cooler where they loose much of their fizz and freshness after a day or three.

Ajuma brings them to the table with rapidly popped caps and nobody is the wiser.

Poor OB, which runs a squeaky-clean stainless steel and glass brewery where robots do most of the work, gets blamed for making skunky beer.

Some people deny this is possible. One guy wanted to argue that there was no way ajuma could serve him a refilled beer… he “would just know”. Besides, “I can hear the hiss when the cap comes off.” He denied my skepticism that anybody could here that in a noisy bar.

While he explained the intricacies of differentiating the nuances of opened and unopened beer, I kept eye contact, picked up an empty bottle off the bar, pressed a cap on it with my thumb… RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM… and said, “Gosh, dude. I guess you are right. Let me buy you a beer.” I popped the top with an opener.

His attitude changed. “Thanks, man!” He lifted it back for a swig… and, of course, nothing came out.

In the history of stupid looks, it was in the top ten.

I was just up in that area today…had a lot of flood damage to many of the clubs. The Americans helped out quite a bit cleaning out their own favorite watering holes though!

“Poor OB, which runs a squeaky-clean stainless steel and glass brewery where robots do most of the work, gets blamed for making skunky beer.”

Who gets the blame for their recipes?

“Who gets the blame for their recipes?”

Budweiser.

Though this all looks scrubbed and clean compared to the Korea I remember from 1983 I sure do want to come back and take a tour. I really appreciate the photo journalism pages like this I’m finding on this site! Thanks

Just don’t make the mistake of going in December when it’s 14 below…

Note that the clubs are all several stories tall and windowless. All of the clubs are on the ground floor. What’s in the floors, above?

That is where the CSW’s are held (can’t escape if there are no windows….)

#5,

Directly or indirectly? And,while I’m at it since you know a thing or two about the booze business in Korea…Why are Korean breweries’ new products so bad?

A little useless Teokgeo-ri trivia that I learned from someone born and raised there.

The first syllable in the name is “tuk” (턱), which is the Korean word for “chin.” The second and third syllables are the word “geo-ri” (거리), which is the Korea word that has several related meanings, such as distance, range, an interval, a difference or a gap.

So…how/why did these two words get combined to make the name of a small mountainous village?

There are several trails up in the mountains, some of which are somewhat dangerous because one errant step and you could find yourself going down. So if someone took a wrong step, he/she could easily find him or herself falling into a cavity/depression of some sort and quickly be up to his/her chin in a hole. Thus, you fell to a depth (distance) “up to your chin.”

And so the name Teokgeo-ri was born.

Without giving it any thought – 99%+ of the people would guess the “ri” part of the name is the “ri” (리 里) that means village. But this is a rare case of a village name that ends with “ri” – and the “ri” means something other than village. Also, most Korean place names have Chinese characters behind the hangul spellings – but not this village. It’s name is pure Korean.

Teadrinker,

Have you not noticed that everybody is producing a “safe”, lowest-common-denominatior one-size-fits-all product?

This ranges from TV/movies/music to snacks/chain restaurants/beer to uninspired fashion/cars/consumer electronics.

Unique and appealing stuff is available… but it costs substantially more than the dreck passed off on the masses.

This is a side effect of the perverse form of macroeconomics currently being practiced and passed off as “capitalism”.

It would take pages and pages to explain… but some key points are… governments discourage small-scale innovation through over-regulation, employment law, and tax structure… large companies discourage anything but managed competition from their peers… the financial companies encourage stagnation through formula risk management… and short-term, golden parachute CEOs worrie about short-term gain at the expense of long-term failure, etc.

(Another interesting aspect is when this system fails, there will be many wagging their fingers and happily touting the “failure of capitalism”.)

So… with all this, every beer tastes like Budweiser… the lowest form of beer that is not exactly unpleasant… but certainly isn’t much more special than water.

Small companies interested in making great beer at a lower profit can’t get the approval or financing to get started and the big companies work together to keep it that way… and then they collectively try to shave pennies of cost off the thousand gallon tank by using inferior ingredients or faster processes which result in lower quality products across the board… but, with an army of focus groups, they are able to choose something the public will tolerate if they have no other choice… and then, after some time, the public forgets and the new crap becomes the new standard.

If all the contrived regulations and permits didn’t exist, any one of us could make fantastic beer out of our houses and sell it on the street at a reasonable price and make a reasonable profit… quickly becoming competition with the swill producers.

It can be done… but it requires big money. Gone are the days of Ma and Pa starting a big company out of their house and building the business one step at a time all on their own. Everyone from the big companies to the financial institutions to the government they control don’t want it to be that easy or that independent.

Actually, America has some great microbreweries but the big 3 (Bud, Miller, Coors) control distribution and lock them out best they can.

Prohibition killed many breweries and the small ones primarily came back because of one man… one kind of unexpected hero. While we love to make fun of him, we should probably always give him credit for this as we complain about him.

http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/76819/how-jimmy-carter-saved-beer

Anyway, that is a very babbling, unorganized, complex, and wide-ranging answer to why popular beer (and a lot of other things) suck… and seem to keep getting worse.

Hope it made sense.

Guitard,

I heard a slightly different story.

“Teokgeo-ri” does not really exist except as slang. It is not an official name… hence it is not a “ri”. It is a dong of Dongduchon. The official address is gwang-ahm-dong.

Teok-ga-ri came about because going over a hill in the area (possibly of the same name) caused one to be out of breath.

Korean slang for “out of breath” translates as “breath comes up to your chin”… which became, as you pointed out, “chin distance” or some similar idea.

I can’t vouch for my version being correct… but that’s what I heard.

#12,

With imports being increasingly popular, they could still produce a better quality product and charge a premium for it as they do in most countries. It would sell. But, as you were saying, they are shortsighted.

…The breweries are also owned by the same companies that produces and imports those imports…which makes me wonder what the markup is on imports.

  1. There are skunk beers. This happens because it is not stored properly.

A bar owner buys bulk and it sits in a non-climate controlled area; hot, cold, hot, cold…

It is exposed to the sun in summer in the back of a truck…

Expired beer.

Any combination of the above.

You get less skunks in the winter. Skunks have become more rare over the years but they most definitely exist.

Q: Why is Toko-ri CP worse than the Galactic Empire?

A: Spice isn’t the only load you have to dump before a patrol arrives.

To those of you who are interested in the concept of better beer in Korea, the following information is provided:

http://www.facebook.com/CraftworksKorea?ref=ts
http://www.craftworkstaphouse.com/
http://homebrewkorea.com/

Some folks are trying to give people good beer options – either by opening a bar or making it themselves.

Also, there’s a Korean-American guy who is running an American Craft Beer importing company here that currently supplies Anderson Valley, Lost Coast, and Rogue Brewing Company beers. They’re pricey, but good.

I lived in the old apartment complex at the far left of that 3rd pic for a long time. It used to be a foreigners only complex, sold to private individuals during our stay there (many of the apartments were subsequently renovated). That part of TDC was a nice, quiet place to live (sleazy clubs down the street, which I never visited, notwithstanding). I’d go back in a minute. Last time I was there that apartment complex wasn’t looking too good anymore, though…

The new OB beer, called “OB Gold”, is not bad. Its at least as good or better than any US mass produced beer. And I agree that being in brown bottles, cans or kegs there is little chance of a truly “skunky” Korean beer (except I suppose, Cafri, in the clear “High Life” style bottles), as “Skunky” aroma is a result of sunlight acting on the beer.

Leon,

I have heard the old “it sat around” used as an excuse… but I think it is just an excuse because nobody wants to believe they are drinking used beer.

Korean bar owners have not studied logistics nor do they speak of JIT… but they have neither the space nor the extra cash to keep weeks of unused beer lying around in a back room… so they rotate their entire supply in a week at most.

The distributors also rotate their supply quickly as storage space is expensive.

There never seems to be a skunky beer from a store, either… or Korean-only bars in non-GI areas.

I stand by my idea that skunky beer is due to the games GI bars play.

  1. Sorry CH. I personally know bar owners whose stock *might* have rotated, sitting in an (climate) uncontrolled area, for 5-6 months, maybe longer. I couldn’t believe how much beer they were buying versus how much they sold. Thinking of one owner in particular, I’m suspecting a huge bulk discount on nearly expired product. Possibly saving 3-5 cents a bottle! Oh, it’s worth it.

I know I never sold used beer in my bar but sometimes, but rarely, got a skunk.

As far as sunlight and brown bottles. Meh. Hauling brown bottles around on the back of an uncovered flatbed for a few days?…

oh man this brings back memories. was with the MP’s from 2004-2007 here. I remember the king club and mustang club the most. mustang for the crowd/music and king for the girls

I was in Camp Hovey – Toko-ri from 1966 to late 1968. I don’t know how it changed but then it was one of the most laid back places in Korea. The people were friendly and the food was great. The pot was cheap and it was mellow. The girls were all Korean, no foreign girls at all. There wasn’t a paved road anywhere to be seen, except in the camp. There were no buildings over one story that I can remember, even in camp. Most buildings were quonsets except for the mess hall and the officer’s quarters. The clubs were called the New Seoul Club and the Niagara Club, etc. A yobo (girlfriend) was $15.00 a month and it went up as you gained rank. We used to do field marches up to a place called Wang Bang Knee. If you wanted to go to TDC, you could take a Kimchi bus at the risk of your life. Going over the pass to TDC was always an adventure. The village was a floating mud puddle during monsoon season. I don’t think many of us wanted to go to TDC because we had our own little tucked away paradise. It was among the best times of my life. I would go back in a minute if it were still like that. Unfortunately it does seem to have changed a bit.

One of my buddies just returned from Hovey last week. He said Toko-ri is now Off Limits. He did say that since it is Off Limits, the MPs and the units patrols do not go there, it is a good get away.

  1. Is this an unofficial secret off-limits?

Re: OB and skunk beer – shit, when I was in Korea, I’d drink a semi-cold beer out of a homeless man’s shoe; In 1987 at 800 won, it was not a bad deal. When out and about, who cares about the beer?

As for Toko-ri: I lived a five minute walk from the main gate at Camp Casey. It was too easy just to go there. On 2 or 3 occasions, however, I wanted to see what Toko-ri might have to offer. While not dissapointed, I was not so impressed, either. I did meet one nice person at the Ace club, but not so nice that I went back. Honestly; why travel to go ride on a merry-go-round when you already live in Disneyland? I will admit that the cab rides were nice, especially if you told the adjushi to go fast; the ride through the mountains was nearly as fun as a roller coaster.

I was also stationed at Camp Hovey (1966-1968) where I met Steve Dudas and we became friends and still are. Tokori was a great little village back then. There was a road that went up behind the village along a stream – great place to stop and have a picnic – very scenic. I stayed overnight many times – returning back to base in the morning. We would buy a teapot full of Malkoli for about 40 won – drink that and smoke pot. I really had a great time there even extending my tour of duty for an additional year. Also had a great time touring much of South Korea. The people were very grateful for us being there and protecting them.

Looking at these pictures – I can’t believe how much everything has changed.

Toko-ri was a “ri” at one point. Mail to my hooch off base back in the 80′s was Kyonggi-do, Tongducheon-Shi, Kwang-am-dong, Toko-ri, and whatever the street address was.

I was stationed at Camp Hovey from 1989 -1990! I spent so much time “down range” in the ‘vill my buddies called me the Mayor of ToKoRi! You could usually find me at the Enjoy Club swilling something cold, hardly ever OB. I think they sold Bud there, can’t remember! Usually had a LBFM close by trying to hustle a drinky or a short time!! I was very glad to see the photos posted here but can only remember the “GI” Club and Jun Bar B Q! The Enjoy club was up that alley between the two in the pic! Tried to go by there the day before I PCS’ed but the place had been shut down for some reason. I’d like to go there again and see the place, but I am too old now to “Enjoy”!!!

I was stationed in Yongsan at the 121 Evac Hospital from 1979-1980. One of the few things that I didn’t like about Korea was that the beer sucked. There were 2 types, OB (OB is an appropriate name since it tasted like Obstetrical drainage) & Crown (less nasty in my opinion but not by much). I went back to Korea for a week after I retired in 1996 on the way to my wife’s home in Cambodia & they had Budweiser. It’s not great like Guinness, German, or Czech beers but it’s better than OB or Crown. I drank oceans full of soju, mokoli, & oscar when I was stationed there. The pot was just ok but you could get different pills or codeine cough syrup in the Korean pharmacies. For any law enforcement personnel reading this that is just what I heard. The year I spent in Korea was the best year of my life, it was one big party.

Perhaps drinking OB is just an acquired taste. I know that after several months in Korea, I acquired the taste quite nicely, thank you. Hell, I could even drink that wierd-ass “champagne”, Oscar, and not toss my biscuits. If one can tolerate (or even enjoy) soju or makkoli, one could certainly like OB!

Did anyone ever try kolyangju? It is a Chinese whiskey; that shit gave me a three day hangover. Never again!

Ahh Hovey ville! My first introduction to military night life in 1990. My first drink, my first time over seas, first time experiencing the “Drinky” culture…..the days. I love your comparison between the Casey ville and Hovey Ville…too accurate. I used to love going to Hovey Ville because I knew that all other G.I.’s were in Casey. But one time they shut Casey down and put it off limits, that night I think half of 2ID was in Hovey ville. I had never seen it so crowded. Thanks for the pics and memories.

Sorry for the double post – but this is a more appropriate place for this:

I went out the Camp Hovey gate and drove through Tokori last night. It was sometime between 9:00 and 10:00pm on a Saturday — and I literally did not see a single soldier.

My how things have changed . . .

Wow! I was stationed at Cp Hovey 69-71. I was a “Ville Rat” and actually married a girl from there, two sons, and doing well. It was a little broken down village and I can’t believe how it has changed. When you walk out the Hovey gate I actually bought the first building to the right, don’t know if it’s still there (if so I own it lol), it had been bought by a former MSG, two rooms and pretty snazzy for Tokori, I think I paid like $300, huge sum in those days…aaah they were good times….

I would love to go back and visit

I like Steve Dudas’s post, why go to TDC when we had a little bit of heaven on our front door. I also remember Steve, the New Seoul and Niagra Clubs.
True story…the little stream that floated thru Toko-ri and Camp Hovey. I had snuck out without a pass and somehow got thru the front gate…to get back I used an air mattress and floated right to my barracks which was just off the stream. I don’t think I was the first to do this, they always put up wire but somehow it always got torn down…great crazy memories…..

Interesting stories on how the name Tokori came about. You learn something new all the time. I’m wondering if there are still any references to Wang Bang Knee where we did our full pack marches back in 1966-68? It was uphill all the way out and uphill all the way back. Never figured out how they did that. I suspect the name ‘Wang Bang Knee’ is a G.I. given name but I’ll let you break it down. Obviously somebody with a tauxan chargee who was bragging about it.

By the way, Bill Coughlin, I was in HHC, 2/32nd. Which company were you in?

I was at Hovey in spring and summer of 1971.
HHC 1/23. We had just come off the DMZ over at Libby bridge. Brought my girl from Changpa ri down to Toko’ri. We had a hootch just out the back gate and up on the hill on the right.
It was cool. Work on base 8-5 then down to the vill for the night and all weekends.
No having to be back by midnight and only 25% of your unit able to be on pass like it was when we were across the river.
The vill was a bit of a mud hole though,but it was in that beautiful valley. It’s funny I just moved from Irvine Ca where I lived for 24 years and it now has a huge Korean population. In 2000 a Korean family bought the house next door and hearing Korean bought back lots of memories.When I tell the Koreans that I was there in the army they almost always say thanks to me for serving. I sold my house to a Korean family when I move here in Tulsa Ok. The family got $250,000 from their parents in Korea for the down payment. South Korea has come a long way.

Toko’ri was there from 84 to 86 good time had by all remember thunder runs and jungle juice thought i died and went to heaven lots of girls too hahahaha thanks for the memories do they still do the horn run on saterdays

What a deference. I was station at Hovey in 1966. What a rat hole then. Muddy streets 4 inches deep, shanty town at best. Mothers selling their daughters. I see it’s still Loaded with bars and whores. Had some fun though, culture shock back then for sure.

I was there in 1977…..mud streets, dirt roads (MSR 1 was barely paved then), tanks and 2/5 trucks on the main roads, that was To ko ri and TDC….

Then you can imagine what it was like in 1966. Same mud but probably more of it and that refreshing aroma from the rice paddies when the first spring thaw occurred. You remember that aroma, right? Straight from the hard work of the honeydippers. By the end of the first week, you didn’t even notice the smell anymore. Ah, what a place. I would go back in a minute if it still existed.

wow… is this really Tokori ? I was stationed at Hovey from oct 71 – Jan 73. I was a gate guard for some of that time, and the rest of the time I was in HHC 1/23 Inf commo, on the hill just above the Motor Pool.. or the commo chief of Combat support and spent some time on the Z. I was a 17 year old kid, and sure remember some of the best times I had in my life. I never looked at it as a bad place, I had so much fun how could I. It was a dirty mud hole that I do remember, but hell I still enjoyed my time there so much that if given the chance I would do it again…..

I was stationed at Camp Hovey from Oct 1966-1967. Met and married my first wife there. Three kids and four grandchildren later I still have mixed memories of the place. I long for the days when a dollar would buy just about anything.

Was with HHC 3/32 as Radar Operator from Jan 67 thru May 68. I totally agree with comments regarding “the time of our lives”. Toko-ri was a real eye opener for a 19 yr old. Like the old west. Spent all your money on beer in the clubs and to mamasan for the short time with the bar girls. The town was really nothing more than wooden shacks and some store fronts with dirt roads and an occassional town well. The bars and clubs were always packed with G.I.’s and the music blared in the streets from the time you walked through the Hovey gate. The surrounding rice paddies brought tears to your eyes during the spring thaws, and frozen toes when walking guard on the dikes in winter during alerts. Spent 3 months on the Z at GP Hendrix, and never regretted a day spent in Korea. It was great being 19 and innocent.

I was an 11 Bravo at Hovey in 1-503 Inf, 87-88. I raised a lot of hell that year. What sucked about Korea was that all of the NCOs and Officers lived cheek to jowl with you-no family to go home to, so they were more involved in a soldiers personal life more than at a typical stateside assignment. Also, they would pull your pass for the smallest of infractions or just for the hell of it. Having said that, outwitting NCOs and Officers was something I enjoyed doing. I had an overnight pass every night-even when I was restricted. I preferred Toko-Ri to TDC because I had my favorite bar and knew the owners and was treated pretty decently. I went back to Korea from 94-97. Things had really changed.

I was with CS 2bg 34inf in Nov1959-1960. Toki-ri was a primitive village through I drove my jeep on the way to my alert station. The streets were unpaved and often muddy. The stench from open sewers was worse than the rice paddies. When the Niagra Club opened it was a time for celebration, because it was the most substantial building in the village. There was a more convenient community north of Toki-ri that we used to village via a hole in the fence. It was necessary to traverse the rice paddies, because there was no road.

Just ran across a guy who was at Toko-Ri the same time I was there…it’s interesting that all of our memories are the same….it was a dirty little village, but it also had it’s good points, good times….I think Steve said it best, the smell was awful, but after a week you got used to it. I spent over two years there and would have spent the rest of my military career there if they let me…great crazy times

CHIPPERB… Was same unit & time as you .. 87-88. Look up Camp Hovey page on FB. What company were you with??
Tokori was THE BEST !! In 87-88 it was our ‘ville!! We loved it there!! Great clubs & places to eat once you got to know your way around. I’m not talking Vegas here but, for the time, place, & circumstances. If you’ve been there you know what I’m saying.

I was there in 91-92 as medic in the 1/5th. I can honestly say I had the time of my life down in Toko-Ri. All I can remember was the Grand Illusion and the Wild Rose or Yellow Rose. Looked a lot different 21 yrs ago. There was a lot of “juicey” girls then but you figured them out and they also figured you out. They would just await the next “Turtles” to show up. Poor girls…good times! How about that SoJu??!! Was kind of happy to throw my boots over that power line and fly outta that hole. What I really miss is the food! I’d like to get a group together and ride the train to Ouijambu(sp), take the subway to Iaetawon and party the weekend on HookerHill. Anyone remember the HeavyMetal Club or the King Club? How about drinking Kettles on the Hill when the clubs closed long enough to restock? The only place that stayed open really late or all night was that club on the top floor of the building at the bottom of Hooker Hill. I didn’t hit Seoul til I was in country for 7 months. Too much to do in TDC and Toko-Ri. “AlwaysReadySir”-Second to None

I lovedf Korea 1973-1976 Gun Fighter in Charge was with C co 1/9 inf KEEP UP THE FIRE mancho heavy dragons loved that PEACH Osker could find me at papa son club mosa>>>>11 C4 P and 95 B4 P mortors and Military Police

the club pictured that was burned out, looked like the old Olympus club….had a lot of Filipinas in there….great times!!!! HHC 1-9 1998-2000

I remember like it was yesterday, i spent my last weeks in 06 at casey,and tokori my club was the indian head. I was in search of the famous tokori midget. how i miss the cool fall, early winter nights waking in the cold with a nice soju buzz smoking a cheap Korean cigarette and watching the juicy girls tremble, wearing almost nothing…. one day i’ll go back

11B 1/38th in 77/78. I remember Toko-Ri as a great place. More class than that dump outside Fort Polk for sure. There was unofficial pressure to take up with a Yobo full time in the village to keep you away from the bar girls. I still remember the little hearts the “official” girls wore they got from their last medical checkup. Sort of a “Best used by” date.

With Charlie, 2/32, at Hovey in 1969-70. Toko-ri was always our choice…getting over to TDC took too much time and I ran into some problems there with slicky boys on a couple of occasions. Mostly hung out at the Niagara in Toko-ri with pal Sonny Koger. Yup, the place stunk to high heavens and the best part of winter was that the ville didn’t smell as bad. These pix show an entirely different place. Paved roads? Wow.

Still a little new to computers at 55, was at C 1/9th from 77 to 78. Never heard anyone mention the top 10 VD guide bill board at the Main gate at Camp Casey, have a photo of it. Tokori was mainly a week day thing when we weren,t in the field and you could hit the house boy Mr Cho up for a loan with interest, the New Seoul club was my favorite.TDC was mostly the payday weekend deal but one thing for sure I would not of traded that one year for the three spent in Germany.

1968-69 Tdc Was good for a17 year old to grow up

Served 11 months on Train Fire Range at Camp Casey from Aug. 64 to July 65. Worked at zero range where personnel learned how to set the sight on there rifle and how to use use there weapon. Served with a great group of men.
Cpl

I’ve been serving in Yongsan for a couple of years now and I’m having a great time! Funny, we are on exercise in Daegu. We were talking about the midget of Tokori yesterday and if it was an urban legend. That’s how I stumbled onto this blog through a google search. I love hearing the old stories and have a few myself.

Not to disappoint but Teokgeori is almost about shutdown. There is only maybe 4 bars still open and yes, the prostitution is still prosperous, but you dont see hardly any GIs or CPs/MPs hanging around…they mostly go to the TDC Ville now. BUT, GIs looking for a quick lay you will see out in these few clubs and it isnt that they are there for drinks only! Anyone with a brain knows what their plan is, been there done that. The prostitution goes on in the TDC Ville as well though…its all who you know and if Ajima know you or not. Pay your $200 to $300 dollar barfine and the girl is yours for the night! Not like in the 90′s when you could go upstairs for a shortime for nearly nothing! but than again, I used to get laid in a dark corner with the girl riding me…no need to pay to take her out and MPs/CPs would just turn a blind eye back than anyways. Attempt at stopping Human Trafficking from the Philippines is a joke! Talk to most of them, they use Hong Kong as the “back door” to enter Korea to work in the clubs. The club burned down in teh picture, the fat Korean guy who used to own it married a juicy and now lives in the Philippines. The Midget from Teokgeori works in a Korean bar near Camp Red Cloud in Uijeongbu. The club system will never go away as long as there are foreigners in Korea spending money…the KTO has too much power! Now if the 2ID Commander had a pair like the Osan Commander, than that would make a HUGE difference in TDC with no Filipinas! But hey, I’d like to see the Koreans come back anyways, and they are slowly gaining ground with the bar “Beerland” being all Koreans, which is nice! But in typical Korean fashion, they will suck your wallet dry if you let em! There is a club owner that used to own Hans Club across from the Bosan-Dong train station and now owns a little bar called Hans in the TDC Ville. Notorious for having her girls runaway. She even tried to prevent it one by taking the Filipinas to Pocheon to prostitute out to Koreans, but that only lasted for about a year. I’ll end, I could write a book on TDC, been there so many years and know the system used in the bars! Oh and Yongsan…dont even waste my time going there. You gotta carry an “Off-Limits” list with you just to find a place to go in Itaewon…not worth my time. Waiting to see what happens outside the Camp Humphreys gate as it grows…a small club district right now, but I foresee it growing. Again, another place easy to get laid…been there recently, done that. Break curfew, it FUN! What’s the worst that could happen, they send me home to the States?? YIPPEE!

Funny, I was in Casey in 1999 in 2/72 Armor and me and my Filipino friend went to Tokori to see the midget. I’m pretty sure she worked at the bar that was shown as burned down. Anyway, we walk in and my friend isn’t much more than 4 1/2 feet tall and the midget walks up and he starts laughing. I look at him and I look at the midget and I look back at him and I couldn’t help but laugh, too.

I just dreamt about my experiences in 93/94 there in Tokiri… what a time I had. New Seoul Club was the name of the place and the girl I liked most was Sauni. I knew nothing about life and I was introduced to it from Korea, don’t know if that is good or bad. Thanks for posting all your stories. Maybe one day I will return, only reenlisted once but was for Hawaii. Got out and moved on with life. Stay out of trouble and enjoy your service gentlemen.

1968 was a good year

Glad to hear the New Seoul Club is still around. It was there when I was there in 1966. I think it was about half way down the road that went left when you entered Tokori – before the road went out into the countryside (rice paddies, along the river). The road that went straight was the road that the Kimchi buses took to get to TDC. There was also the Niagara Club and a few others that I can’t quite remember now. The word ‘concrete’ was unknown in Tokori as the roads – both of them – were muddy ditches that the deuce and a halfs lurched through during monsoon season. And occasionally some villager would pretend he was hit by one of the Army vehicles so he/she could collect a few bucks. When I saw that on a M.A.S.H episode, it took me back because it was so true. Earl, what company were you with? I was HHC, 2/32, 7th Inf. Company clerk (original Radar O’Reilly).

127 th sig battalion Korea 67/68 101st airborne nam 69/70

Is Toko-ri even worth going to? Itaewon seems more like a tourist trap. There’s got to be some old school clubs left out there.

Mike: depends on your definition of old school, but anything that an ‘old timer’ remembers from the pre-1990s – that kind of club scene completely disappeared by the early ’90s. And it ain’t been the same ever since.

I was there in 2002 and it was pretty tame even then. Didn’t see any women covered in chocolate or wax, maybe a few giving discreet handjobs in back booths, and alas we missed the midget as well. I think the main difference these days is that you’ll be unlikely to find any Russian women there. I was in the main ville up there five years ago and it was practically all Filipinas even then, with the odd Korean woman here and there.

There are still lots of Russian women working Texas Street in Busan these days. The older ones charge W10,000 for a lady drink at the little bars along the main drag, and the younger ones tend to work the noraebangs, where they can pull more coin from a Korean clientele. There are also a lot of Russian streetwalkers in the back alleys if that’s your thing, and some of them can be pretty freaky. The drunk Russian seamen wandering about also make things interesting — they’re a friendly bunch on the whole, but things can quickly turn ugly if you’re not careful, but that’s pretty much par for the course.

All the way to Busan for a Russian chick? Too far a weeknight.

Well, there’s always Rio in It’aewon. You won’t find too many “tourists” there.

King Baeksu: I hear you brother. I’ve never been to Rio, couldn’t even tell you where it’s located.

Guitard: For what it’s worth, my definition of old school would be clubs where political correctness and the morality police are extinct. About 3 years ago there was a lot more Russians frequenting the bars in Itaewon. They must have relocated somewhere else with more earning potential.

Jan 67 to Dec 68, got there the day that N Korea took the Pueblo….cant remember the unit anymore except that I was a mechanic in the motorpool for HQ company at Hovey when it was 7th Inf…. Hard to remember much of it but Toko-ri was all mud, narrow alleys, sweet young girls and the OB was better than the Schlitz they sent over. Now I find myself needing proof that I was rotated to the DMZ where we got the agent orange. VA doesn’t have records of it even though I went thru Libby bridge so many times I didn’t need clearance. It was good times..what I remember of it..

Im from bounce club. I miss korea. I worked there for 9months and our boss have to send us home becoz clubs are getting shut down. Im happy seeing these pictures it reminds me of the day that i met alot of new people army korean pilinos …. It brings back memories hope i can get a contact no. Of the owner of bounce club. I really miss them.

#76

Don’t you know you were a victim. You were rescued from human trafficking.

Thanks GI Korea, you refreshed my memories. I was stationed on Hovey from 1998 to 1999. I just remember that I was in charge of the Warrior Passes, 2/17 FA HHB Unit, I was the king . I really had an excellent time in Tokori with my body Pedro. All those photos gave me a flash back.

A Profile of the Bosan-dong Ville In Dongducheon, Korea

| August 5, 2011

Considering how popular my prior posting about the TDC Ville was I decided to publish a posting with even more information and pictures about the premier entertainment district in the 2ID area, the TDC Ville.  A recent trip to Korea gave me the perfect opportunity to walk through the TDC Ville in Dongducheon to take pictures of the various clubs and shops. For the past few years the local Korean government has really tried to fix up the ville and have even re-named it the Bosan-dong Special Tour District in effort to change the image of the ville:

Here is an excerpt from an article about why the local government is pouring roughly $5 million dollars into renovating the ville:

Mayor Oh, Sechang of Dongducheon and his city engineers have decided to give the area outside USAG-Casey’s main gate a face lift. They will be changing the looks and adding many new features to the area known as Bosandong village. Many enjoy the entertainment and shopping, which has been a feature of the area since the Korean War ended in 1950. The mayor and his engineers will add popular sports sections and popular shops such as those found in Itaewon in Seoul near USAG-Yongsan.

“Ever since the end of the Korean War, Bosandong flourished with Soldiers who would shop in the area,” said Jeon, Heung-Sik, Dongducheon Mayor’s Office particular operation region division engineer. “In 2004, the 2nd Brigade left USAG-Casey, which reduced the number of U.S. Soldiers in the area and the plan to relocate the Soldiers to USAG-Humphreys will change the customer base for good. Because Bosandong’s customer base has declined, the area has become run down. The mayor and Dongducheon City will renovate the area to attract customers of all kinds, including tourists not only from other parts of Korea, but from overseas as well.”  [Army.mil]

You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see if Bosan-dong ever does become a mainstream shopping area like Itaewon currently is in Seoul.  I actually took one day to go to Camp Casey and stop by the PX and look around before I decided to go and see how much the renovations have changed the ville:

The day I went to Camp Casey the weather was just perfect with sunny blue skies.  Here is the view looking under the subway bridge across the street from Camp Casey towards Camp Mobile on the right:

Picture from Dongducheon, South Korea

However, the next day when I went to go check out the ville it was raining heavily outside.  So I put on my rain jacket and proceeded to go ahead and check out the ville that morning despite the rain. Even with the heavy rain most of the pictures didn’t come out too bad plus the rain gave me the ville all to myself the morning that I did my walk through.  Little did I know that the rains would continue to fall for many days until severe flooding damaged the ville and led to this massive US military assisted clean up effort.

Anyway here is the main entrance to the ville on its north side between Camp Casey and Camp Mobile:

Picture from Dongducheon, South Korea

The renovations of hanging snowflakes and adding the brick road and instantly noticeable but really Bosan-dong still looks like the ville.  A good Korea analogy is putting make up on Songtan Sally.  It helps a little bit, but it is still Songtan Sally.

From the start of the ville a variety of clubs can be seen that run adjacent to the subway line:

Picture from Dongducheon, South Korea

This subway line wasn’t always here and there used to be a train line that ran through the ville that occasionally a drunk GI would get hit by.  Now the overpass that was constructed over 5 years ago has removed this hazard while at the same time providing a quick means of transportation to Seoul for the Soldiers stationed in Dongducheon.  As part of the local government’s efforts to clean up the ville they have not only fixed up many of the buildings but installed a number of public parks and facilities.  Here is one of the public facilities which is actually a common sight around Korea, which is publicly usable exercise equipment:

Picture from Dongducheon, South Korea

Before walking down the main strip of the ville I decided to go ahead and walk up towards the Highway 3 bypass and take some pictures from there.  While walking that way I passed a number of mink blanket shops that have been a main stay business in the ville for decades:

Picture from Dongducheon, South Korea

I know people who were stationed at Camp Casey in the 1960′s who have told me they still own their mink blanket they bought in the ville.  As walked up to the bypass I took this picture of the entrance to Camp Mobile:

For those that don’t know Camp Mobile is where the CIF facility is at where gear is issued to new Soldiers.  There is also a small runway there as well where in the past I was able to conduct helicopter insertion missions with the 1-503rd Infantry when they were stationed at Camp Casey.

Here is the major intersection that leads to Camp Casey from the Highway 3 bypass:

Picture from Dongducheon, South Korea

I can remember the traffic jams that use to plague this area a few years ago when this bridge was being built.  From the intersection I could see the old Camp Nimble water tower:

Old Camp Nimble Water Tower In Dongducheon, South Korea

This camp was closed down in 2005 as part of the USFK transformation plan to consolidate forces on the peninsula in preparation for a massive consolidation of forces on an expanded Camp Humphreys further down south.  Camp Nimble I could see was completely leveled leaving only the water tower.

From the intersection I made my way down a side alley to head back to the main area of the ville:

Picture from Dongducheon, South Korea

Here is the Miss Oh Shop:

Miss Oh Shop In Dongducheon, South Korea

Just past this shop I entered another alley where a few bars were located:

Cheers Club In Dongducheon, South Korea

Here is Cheers which was known as being an officer hang out when I was stationed at Camp Casey:

The next club used to be the Peace Club, but is now called Club Peace for whatever reason:

Back in the day the Peace Club was a nice place to hang out because they didn’t have Juicy Girls but eventually they brought in a few Juicy Girls that kind of ruined the atmosphere.

Anyway here is the Phoenix Club:

And here is the D Club:

By the way if anyone has any current information or stories they want to share about the various clubs mentioned in this posting please feel free to leave a comment.

I continued down the side alley heading back towards the main strip of the ville:

Here is the view looking back towards Club Peace:

Here is just another view of the back alley and the Poory Chop Store:

The alley exited near this park that was constructed in recent years as part of the renovation of Bosan-dong:

Not too far from the park is Phrawgh’s Tavern which some readers of this blog might recognize 😉  :

Near Phrawgh’s is Mojo’s American Bar:

Here is a picture of yet another newly constructed park that has a statue of some keys for some reason:

Anyone know what the keys are supposed to signify?

Anyway from the park I walked back over to the main entrance of the ville and took this picture of the King Club which is the first club that can be seen when walking into the ville:

Here are few of the stores and clubs further down from King Club such as the Caesar’s Palace Club:

Here is the Golden Gate Club and Bar 37:

Here is Club Ocean:

In the central area of the ville is this stage area where various public events can be held:

At one corner of the park is the Universal Paradise Club:

Here is a picture of the Harley Club and Club JJ:

Here is the Empire Club that used to be where the Black Rose was located:

The Black Rose used to the be the club that primarily only black soldiers used to hang out.  The Black Rose is nothing more than a gift shop now.  Here is a picture of the Deep Club and one of the many custom tailor shops in the ville:

I still have one of my custom suits I had made 10 years ago in TDC and still wear it from time to time.  You can get some high quality suits made in the ville for a very affordable price.

Here is the VIP Club:

Here is a picture of the joint US-Korea “Crime Prevention Center” located in the center of the ville near Bosan Station:

Here is the view looking north up the ville down the path I just walked up:

Here is the view looking south where the ville hits a three way intersection:

Notice that the path to the left takes people to the relatively new Bosan Subway Station.  The path on the right takes people to the Love Shop area of the ville:

I ended up taking the center path at the intersection that leads to yet more clubs in the ville:

I walked past first the Dragon Club:

Then the Sky Club:

Here is the Las Vegas Club:

And the Silver Star Club:

Here is the Mustang Club that a few years ago was infamous for fights but I have no idea if that is still the case today:

Here is the Together Club:

Tucked in a back alley is the Pan Korea Club which when I frequented the ville was a Hispanic Club:

Here are yet more clubs, the Player’s Club, Club Queen, and the Bridge Club:

This stretch of the ville is also home to the Rendezvous Club:

I don’t know if this is still the case but this club used to be run by a Korean mafia figure named Mr. Han.  I once saw him karate kick a guy in the face before in the bar that was causing trouble.  Anyone know if Mr. Han is still running this place?

Here is the Head Club that I always thought was the biggest fire trap in the ville:

Upstairs from the Head Club is the Deja Vu Club.  From the Head Club I detoured off on to a side alley that had yet more clubs and shops:

Here is yet another example of a custom tailor shop:

Just down the road is the Blackman Tailor Shop that has been a fixture in the ville for many years:

Down this side alley was yet more clubs such as Club Flex:

And here is the Pop Store Club:

Here is one of the few hotels that service the ville, the Hana Hotel:

Next to the Hana Hotel is the Latin Brothers Club that I don’t remember seeing the last time I was in the ville three years ago:

From Latin Brothers I walked over to the far southern end of Bosan-dong where the ville begins to transition into real Dongducheon.  Like on the north end the south end of the ville has had a makeover as well:

Since I head detoured off into the side alley from the main strip I decided to walk a little ways back up the strip to get some pictures of the clubs I hadn’t photographed yet.  Here is the Sun Club:

Here is the ACE Restaurant, the BMW Club, and the Focus Club:

Finally here is the Cowboys Club:

After taking a few photos of the clubs at the end of the ville, I then turned around to head back out the ville’s southern entrance.  The GS 25 store pictured on the left is kind of the defacto beginning of the real Dongducheon:

If I would have continued going straight down the street it would have taken me towards downtown Dongducheon.  Instead I took a left and headed towards Highway 3 that runs between the ville and Camp Casey.  Here is a picture I took of the alley that runs between the ville and Bosan Station:

This is a picture of the intersection with Highway 3.  Right goes deeper into Dongducheon while taking a left goes towards Camp Casey.  Here I took a left:

As I walked down the sidewalk this area of the ville is dominated by the massive Bosan Station that looks like a giant space ship landed in the middle of Dongducheon:

If this station is secretly an alien space ship at least they brought the Ono Sports Bar & Grill with them:

Across the street from the station was a few more bars and businesses:

Here is Club W:

Here is Marty’s American Sport’s Bar and Grill:

I can remember when Marty’s opened it was one of the nicest places to eat in the ville.  I don’t know if that is still the case considering all the other restaurants that have opened up as well in Bosan-dong in recent years.  For example here is a Brazilian BBQ house called Bossa Nova Grill:

I don’t know if this place is any good but it smelled good when I walked by.  As I continued down the sidewalk I saw plenty of other restaurants in this section of the ville as well:

Here is the Zula Bar & Grill which another one of the new restaurants in the ville:

The ville is of course also full of plenty of pawn shops, money exchanges, game and DVD shops, etc. that are fixture of just about every ville in Korea:

While walking back to Camp Casey, right across the street from the camp is the highly controversial Julie’s Realty:

Many ROK Drop readers may remember that Julie’s Realty was linked to BAH fraud down in Seoul.  I don’t know if they are still trying to pull the old housing fraud trick on servicemembers now, but walking by it appeared they were doing pretty good business:

Here I am looking south standing next to the bus stop across from Camp Casey:

In this area of the ville across the street from Camp Casey many coin and plaque shops can be found since Soldiers can easily visit these places during lunch in order to pick up various items for their units:

One of the unusual aspects of Korea when compared to state side assignments is how many people are always coming and going due to the one year tours that many Soldiers still receive to come to the 2nd Infantry Division.  Every time a Soldier leaves their unit it is customary to have what the Army calls a “Hail and Farewell” to welcome new personnel and farewell departing personnel.  The departing personnel usually are given a plaque or some other gift for their time with the unit which means shops like the one pictured above due brisk business.  The ajushi that work in these shops actually do really good work for a relatively good price.

Something surprising to me looking across the street is how this road that runs adjacent to Camp Casey has been widened:

This used to be a very narrow road that ran through a tight cluster of homes here.  All the buildings on the left side that bordered the base have been knocked down.  This little ville used to be a popular place for married Soldiers to find cheap housing for their families if they decided to bring them to Korea.

Here is the view across the street of the ubiquitous KNP buses that are pretty much parked near every major US military installation to provide security just in case any protesters show up to cause problems:

And that completed my walk around the ville.  Like I said before there has been much effort to clean the place up, but it is still the ville and always will be until the day US Soldiers leave Dongducheon.  If anyone has any stories they would like to share about the clubs pictured here or any other experiences they had in the ville please share with other readers in the comments section.

Note: You can read more from the ROK Drop featured series “A Profile of USFK Bases” at the below link:

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Note: These are comments that I had to manually move over from the old ROKdrop.com site.  Please post new comments down below:

I’ve still got my Korean Blankets from 30 years ago. Never have been able to sleep with anything else on the bed in winter. They sell a similar style blanket at a local flea market, but they just don’t seem the same.

Sad to hear that Camp Nimble is no longer there. It was always fun being across the river from the 2ID and being in the 8th Army.

I don’t recognize anything in the pictures anymore.

I can’t be leave how much TDC has changed in time that i was in TDC back in 1975 thru 1976 and even when i went back in 1985 I really loved it there back then even if i was very young 21 years old then.

Lt’s see.

CIF was moved to Stanley a number of years ago. Silly but true. The only reason a soldier might ever venture onto CP Mobile is to visit ACAP or they are in the UAS platoon.

For all intents and purposes, Club Flex is the old Black Rose, same owner.

Mr. Han died a couple years ago from a “heart attack”.

The Head Club should be avoided at all costs. Den of thieves, pimps and ice washers.

Zulu and Ono’s are owned by the Empire Club folks.

Those same folks tried to force the Brazilians out of business. Didn’t work…

The Sky Club… How they are not off limits for PHT and credit card fraud, I have no idea. They seem to do the most business, or any business, after the CP’s and MP’s call it a night. I can’t think of why anyone would go there except for a hand job… But beware, they will make sweet love to your credit card. I have heard of more than one instance of them running a card for thousands of dollars in one night. I guess sometimes your credit card company will back you, sometimes not. The Sky might be in close competition with Head Club and Cheers for the biggest scum balls in the ville.

Hasn’t been updated in a long time but here’s a TDC bar review some may find of interest. Some infomis out of date. The “Taliban rating” doesn’t mean as much anymore but at the time was very relevant. Many of the mainstays are still there.

http://www.mojosbar.com/clubs/

Leon thanks for the updates. If the CIF is closed at Camp Mobile they must be keeping that base open solely because of the airfield then.

As far as Mr. Han I’m sure there is probably more to that story than just a heart attack. It sounds like the Head Club is even a shadier place than it was just five years ago. I remember having to break up some serious fights there before between GI’s. They would play the heavy metal music and somebody would start a mosh pit and before you know it a fight would break out.

Jerry,cmt#1/ I left Korea in 88′. Been back a few times,
recently in May. I too loved the mink blankets. For some
reason on previous trips they never entered my mind until
I went into the Friendship Arcade on Yongsan to visit some
of my wife’s former co-workers that are still there(2).
Laid eyes on a stack of those blankets. A rush of memories
rushed into my mind. I bought a queen sized one, only $45.
Wife says Koreans do not buy or use them anymore. She could protest til the end of time, I got my blanket! A day or two later we were in SoDaeMoon, the big market that
is a bargain mecca in Seoul. You name it they got it. Did
not see any there. I was surprised that my wife may be
correct in her statement of the the blankets being passe’

In your#3 you mentioned that “ACAP” and “UAS” platoon. What do those mean? You are very knowledgeable about
TDC. Thanks for your input.

Leon Cmt #3, not Jerry. Excuse me for the mistake in the last paragraph in getting the two guys mixed up.

GI Korea 6, you broke up fights? I don’t understand. Were you there as a customer when fights broke out?

  1. The term used previously for unmanned aircraft was unmanned-aircraft vehicle system (UAV). The term unmanned aircraft system (UAS) is the newest military acronym, to emphasize the importance of other elements beyond an aircraft itself. A typical UAS consists of the:

* unmanned aircraft (UA)
* control system, such as Ground Control Station (GCS)
* control link, a specialized datalink
* other related support equipment.

ACAP is Army Career and Alumni Program, there old timer.

Mobile was mainly were all the MWR warehouses and refrigeration was, along with their motorpool. Also, 403rd AFSB is there. That’s were all the civilian government LARS and such have (had) their offices. The flood took all that out. If I was USFK I wouldn’t even bother reopening the place and move all that stuff to the now unoccupied Camp Castle BUT I heard the ROK army is already set to move in there. Anytime there is a flood, Mobile will get hit as it is the lowest point in Bo San Dong and right next to the river.

  1. Yep GI someone in the brain trust that runs this place decided it would be a great idea to put the turtle farm and CIF at Stanley.
  2. He was either a customer, walking the ville like a good NCO or on Courtesy Patrol (CP).

Glans in 2ID they have what is called Courtesy Patrols (CP’s) that walk around the ville and basically try to keep people out of trouble. As I mentioned in my comment my experience dealing with these clubs is dated but the Head Club was usually one where trouble would break out. Leon has much better knowledge on how things are now.

Leon LaPorte 10 suggests that GI Korea was an NCO when he broke up fights. Is that true, GI Korea? Are you currently an NCO?

I imagine you as a commissioned officer.

Commissioned officers should never break up fights or put themselves in a position needing to do so. First it could cause the officer not not be seen as a higher being by rolling in the mud and the guts and the beer. Second, he is endangering the welfare of the soldiers he is attempting to assist.

As I asked a young 2LT once who was attempting to take care of “his” troops, “What if you get hit LT?”. It goes from a minor scuffle in the ville to field grade action automatically. That’s business best left to NCO’s.

Leon LaPorte,
Where do the English teachers hang out and where can one stay a night or two? Is the Hana Hotel(next to Latin Brothers Club) the only option?

Never was a whole lot of English teachers in that part of town. Last I checked, even English teachers can stay in any hotel they want.

Hawaii Hotel is cheap. The Cima in 2nd market is nice and not overly expensive (W60,000). Or were you asking something else?

When I pulled CP in Itaewon, it was always a two man team made up of a Sr. NCO and a Jr. officer. I never once had to break up a fight. Maybe I was just lucky. Come to think of it…I don’t think I was authorized to break up a fight. I think we were supposed to call the MPs (we had radios).

So GI Korea was a lieutenant or captain. When he saw a fight, he said, “You men stop fighting!” and they did.

  1. How do you know they were men? Why do you assume men would be fighting? Are you a misandrist?

Leon LaPorte, my knowledge of the military is second-hand. In old movies, officers and senior NCOs (formerly known as non-coms) addressed their troops as you men. What is it now? You men and women? You straights and gays? You whites and non-whites?

Mr Han passed away few years ago……his “wife” still runs the reindevous

GI Korea, thankyou for posting these picks. I have left comments in TDC Ville a couple of years ago. I do not recognise the village as it is nowadays. It has changed alot since 1978. Of all the pics you posted I recognize only the Rendezvous and Club Pan Korea. Not sure I would like Bosan-dong. My first and only time with two women was a short time in the ville. Back then we did not carry credit/debit cards. Don’t think they had the capability to run a card back then. Everything was on a cash only basis. Both of them were hot young Korean women. I paid them $5 each and gave them a $5 tip to split. I had them both for around an hour and a half. No Russian or Thai girls back in those days. Just the most beautiful women in Asia, Korean women. As you know it was legal for GI’s to hire lady’s of the night then. I was extremely lucky. Was the only soldier in my platoon that did not contract some sort of VD.

nice post

TY, I have many more stories of deviant and sexual exploits in the ROK. No regrets, I met my wife of 32 years there.

Wow things have really changed since ’74-’76 when I graced those streets. My favorite hang out with John McComas was in Seoul called the Heart to Heart Club, I think I still own the owner my tab. That place was awsome.

I cant belive thats the same place I was back in 1968.Camp Casy was all 7th. Inf.Div.
The streets were all dirt roads with running water on each side ( open sewers ).Soon as you went out the main gate and crossed the street ( which was only paved for 1/2 mile in each direction ) you would cross the railroad tracks and 3 to 6 girls would grab your hand and try pulling you to their hootch for a “short time” for a $1.Once past that obstacle,you might stop at the first club in the ville,the Bayonet club.Have an OB beer,listen to Jose felecieano,sing ligt my fire,the doors and the rolling stones.Then roll on down the street to your favorite club.
But hey guys,what happened in Korea,stayed in Korea.

xx

#25 Fred: What stayed in Korea was quite a few of retired guys from the military and stayed there. Some that did not retire, got out and got jobs there so they could stay. Then there are others that did not stay but took a piece of Korea with them such as I did, the lovely and gracious Mrs Fisher. We go back often to visit. I wonder how many guys lay in bed thinking of the great fun they had. Wishing they were pro-active in their decision making process. It does not take a decision to leave Korea or ETS from the Army, the conveyor belt automatically does that when your date comes up.

I flew UH-1′s out of H-220 (Camp Mobile) in 1987, B Co 2nd Avn. 2nd S & T had the Camp then, we were behind the Hot dog stand just inside Casey gate. Flew the AH-1 with 5/17 Cav out of Camp Mobile in 91/92. God the place looks bad, it used to flood every monsoon season and stink even worse than usual. Peace Club story from 1992. Place was laid back had a few whores hanging out in it that used to work the New York club back during my first tour. Anyway, some Korean TV channel news crew from Seoul was out doing some kind of expose on American GI clubs in the ville. They walked in the door of the Peace Club with the bright camera lights on and were immediatly thrown right back out in the alley by Miss Lee and some of her girls, holding their hands up to cover their faces the whole time while yelling Geseki-ya,Shibal-nam and some words I hadnt heard yet even after 2 tours. I was just walking by, on my way to the T-club and at the time sober to boot, but it was funny as hell. My wife is going back to Korea this October, I sure wish I could go with her but I have a broken ankle and can barely walk, plus a 15 year old who needs close supervision. She probably wouldn’t let me go to TDC any way, not by myself. Club JJ sure looks like the New Korea Club. Any chance of a photo tour of Toko-ri, Hooker hill or Stanley Ville?

Rich, you ask and you shall receive. The following link should give you plenty of material to read that you will find of interest:

Archive of ROK Drop’s “A Profile” Series

oh man this brings back memories. was with the MP’s from 2004-2007 here. I remember the king club and mustang club the most. mustang for the crowd/music and king for the girls

man, i did some major damage in ’08….up club- and limbo…had a girl who would cook me food and pay for the room on her days off…never paid for them….had an awesome time and would do it again….

There wasn’t one square inch of pavement or sidewalks when I was there 1967-68. Of course none of old TDC remains either, except maybe the Rendezvous Club. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn there’s now indoor plumbing…just kidding! I understand now that GIs can’t even pay a rice bill, the girls that work in the clubs aren’t Korean, probably no more VD card requirement for the girls in the clubs. I remember going to the field near Yongjugol and a bus would stop at night and half of the gals from TDC would get off and pay us a visit. And now there’re female soldiers stationed at Casey. What the heck do they do in TDC? There were the chop houses, the pawn shops, the opium dens, and 20 people hanging off the outside of the kimchee busses. No more Sgt Peppers playing from the speakers outside the clubs. Only Korean booze, cigarettes and money in the village. Everything US was contraband. And you better be back on base by midnight or your pass would get pulled. My mamasan, her girls, and the hootches with paper-thin walls. Only EM were allowed in TDC. Days of old!

After the flood the Rendezvous is now a bear, vacant lot. They say they are going to rebuild but I’ve yet to see much happen.

Cmt 32: Opium Dens???? You have got to be kidding. I was in
Korea on off and on for seven years, 64′ thru 88′. Other than
the that I concur with your comments. Would like to know if
anyone else was aware of any “opium dens”.

Semi kidding. The opium den was what we referred to as the place where you’d sit on the bare floor and a mamasan would walk around handing out joints. It was pot, not opium, but we knew it as the “opium den” in 1968. It was down an alley on the opposite side of the street from the Rendezvous. I only went there once, so it could have been a very temporary location.

#35′: That makes sense! Thanks for the clarification. I miss
Korea, anyway the Korea of the period you mentioned. I go back
often but those times were much more fun for a GI than they
are now—-in my opinion.

Wow what a HUGE change! Trains! I was in the 2nd MP Co in 79-80, when we had curfew (midnight) because of martial law. Seems like a lifetime ago, and still have vivid memories. i had a few flannel shirts Tailor made in the Ville. I swear I had them until 1990, when I mistakingly left them at a friends house. they still looked almost new too. I was in the platoon that patrolled the Vill at night. Hated it> Too many super wannabee cops I worked with. Fights every damn night, guys OD’ing on Scotie yellows etc..But OH how I miss my 13 fiancess lol. Good times. Would love to take my family to Korea some day, I turned them on to the food and as yound kids they loved it and we still eat it. Good places in NY. Glad to see TDC was modernized. I was there when someone who was angry at an MP tossed a grenade into the PMO on Xmas. Hurt a bunch of people luckily noone was killed. Like I said crazy times. Nice site glad I saw it

JACK#37: Korea is a mecca for tourist these days. You and your
family would have the time of your life there. You can book
tours thru the USO regardless of being retired military or
not. Go onto the USO website. Big bang for your buck in my
opinion. I was recently there (May/Jun). You will be amazed
at the Korea of today, I am sure of it. I was at Cp Pelham
during the time you were there. GO FOR IT.

I’m really glad I found this site and the pictures. I was station at Camp Castle in ’92-93 but haven’t been back. Fun to go down memory lane. Thanks.

There is only one club name that has survived my 1967-68 tour of duty: The Rendezvous Club. That’s it. Back then the ville was ugly and it smelled bad, but it sure had character. I went home on a mid-tour 30 day leave and came back early. Couldn’t wait to get back to the diesel stoves, the mud streets, and the behind-the-beaded-curtain chops shops that served yakimandu and Oscar champagne in TDC.

#40; Could not agree with you more! I had four tours of duty over there. When I got my orders each time, I put in for 30 days leave and made a B-line for the airport and signed up for “duty standby”at Travis AFB so I could arrive there a month before my scheduled reporting in date.

I can’t believe Las Vegas and Silver Star are still around. Do they still have the Silver Star Outlaws? I think Bar 37 used to be The Oasis Club, used to have bbq’s up on the top of that place all the time in the early 90′s. Anyone remember Studio 54?

Are there any bars or places to hang out in Bosan that aren’t full of 19 year old idiots looking for fights and prostitutes? I’m tried of dealing with them and just want a place to go after I get off duty.

  1. Yes! Try http://www.facebook.com/imjinpub

I spent many a night in the Dragon Club back in ’87. The ville sure looks much cleaner now than it did back then. Hard to belive that is the same TDC I used to go to.

any of u do knows about shella n roxanne at the king club–?

it was 2007 n 2008–with any photos of them,

Nice to see these photos again. I guess I got it again in email due to somebody’s post. The village was known as TDC, or Tongduchon, when I was there in 1967. There was no Dongducheon or Bosan-dong. All streets and allys were dirt. There was no pavement anywhere. Everything looked like it was on the verge of collapse. During the winter, the clubs were boarded up when the temps were too cold to be outside. Leaving Casey on pass, there were so many girls on each side of the walkway from the MP hootch that we felt like we were on parade. If you got too close, they’d tear your clothes off. There were hundreds of working gals in TDC. No such thing as a “juicy girl” back then. The girls were called “business girls” and could work in the clubs if they had a VD card, otherwise they had to stay outside. There were no Russian or Filipino girls in TDC- all were Korean. All GIs were male, and no officers were allowed on pass with enlisted personnel. There was a midnight cerfew and no civilian clothes were allowed. US currency was considered contraband. Possession of such was a punishable offense. Some TDC clubs had Korean bands that tried to emulate popular bands. American music played in the streets (Beatles, Union Gap, Lemon Pipers, etc.). There were no restaurants, there were only chop houses- a couple of tables behind a beaded curtain in a pawn shop. TDC was just a few years away from the Korean War in 1967, but it was the greatest and I miss it still, these 45 years later. RIP TDC.

John: Actually Tongduchon and TDC, and Dongducheon are all the same thing. But Dongducheon is the “modern” spelling. In Korean and Chinese: 동두천 東豆川.

An interesting tidbit – it means “East Bean Creek.”

TDC has evolved in many ways over the years. It’s not the same place I remember, and certainly all changes are for the better. Renaming TDC to Dongducheon is a modern touch, similar to replacing the Korean business gals with Filipino and Russian juicy girls. That too will pass. During my day, the effort was to get the GI’s money any way possible. It’s good to see the Koreans in Dongducheon are willing to spend some of it now to upgrade the city. I’m sure that is necessary for the day to come when Dongducheon is no longer a US Army camp town.

Back in the late seventy’s early 80’s my mother-in-law which is 92 now was a prominent Bosan-Dong woman group leader and own a few properties around the area back then. What a novelty I was; being a black guy married to one of the local citizen daughter. Ladies would drop by to talk to my mother in-law about this and that unexpectedly meet me. I was surprise to find out a number of these elderly woman had daughters married to GI’s and would return with pictures of their daughter who was married to GI’s accompany with address’s that they wanted to know about. I remember going down to the local book store and buying a map of the united states to better explain the where abouts of where their daughter was station or located in the US. Oh I became acquainted with my present wife while over at my buddy and his yobo hooch. My wife at the time was known as ajuma daughter would drop by to collect rent or just to chi chat with the girls that live in this complex. One day my friend yobo told me that ajuma daughter liked me so I took advantage of the situation and the rest is history. I remember a strange occurrence that happened when my house boy Mr. Kim told me he got a call from some man that wanted to know if I was married and where I was from back in the states and what I was I like. To this day I have never found out who called my houseboy asking about my personal Life. I think it was my mother- in-law. Reason is I have looked at pictures in my wife family album of her mother standing with 3 star Korean general, TDC mayor, Bosan-Dong Rep, polices chief and other prominent figure in the local area. 10 or 15 years ago I could walk around Bo-san Dong and old ladies would asked me how’s was my mother in-law was doing and had no ideal who this person might have been.
My wife explain to me any foreigner walking around would be notice and talk about. In my case so many elderly ladies had been to the house and have not forgotten me I was told. Another thing that really intrigued me on many occasions that I was privet to was how surprise Korean where when they notice how poor American soldiers where, coming from a rich nation like American. I was present at my mother in-law house when I was filling out some paper work to go to Seoul to get married consequently my mother in-law ask what is the state of black peoples in America because she had heard so many bad stories about black people treatment in America, are the white soldier more richer than black one, the man replied not necessary the soldiers they all pretty much the same coming from poor families because America do not have a draft, they join the military for a better life, to travel what ever. they have no health care and it cost a lot of money to go to school and that in general America white people are wealthier than blacks. He then looked at me and said is that true…..mother in-law replied so how can America help us when it does not help it’s own peoples. It is really funny to Korean when they see poor American can’t pay their rent. etc. with their military being so big and shiny and their peoples are so poor and needy

#51: Enjoyed your post, thanks. I do however want to know if
you comments about the “poor” in the USA refer to now or at an
earlier period. The so called poor in the US would be considered rich in other countries. Not one person in the USA ever dies from hunger. I that was to happen the socialist
would have it on the news for weeks, especially NBC. As a mailman for 19 years and having delivered in the projects up until 2007, I can assure you they all have TV’s cell phones, cars, and are well fed, compliments of the tax payers. Hot and cold running water and clothing albeit not what many outside of that environment to be considered tasteful. Their circumstances are not due in most part tobad luck or bias towards them. If you can not speak the English language properly, do not finish high school, have a criminal
juvenile or adult record, or in the case of girls have babies
with “sperm donors (not fathers), are in the 4th generation
of being programed to live off the government tit, you are doomed to never being able to “be all you can be”. You can not join the military (I was an Recruiter), few employers would ever higher you in a decent paying job with potential. They become comfortable on the “dole”. Evil shit when you consider it. The nanny state locks them into that situation. Why get a job and behave yourself when the total of handouts, housing, food, medical is provided which turns out to be about $20-30@hour. Beats whatever they would make working
on the only type of work they could get. The deaths in those
projects is outrageous. Blacks are 13% of the population and
over 50% of the prison population.

Did you stay in Army? Great move if you did. Great move to have married an Asian–in my opinion. Are you still with her?

BOSANG-DONG KYONGGIDO KOREA: 2 guys from my platoon married and stayed in TDC after their ETS in 1968. My house boy was named Kim also, but I know there were many. What unit were you from?

BOSANG-DONG KYONGGIDO KOREA: Since you did not answer my question, I suspect that you are not who/what you say you are. The Korean people laugh at the shiny US military that protects them from NK? You should know that we are there to protect the people, not to take care of them. I was there in the 60s when the MSR was dirt, the people lived in huts made of straw and mud and the children ran around dirty and naked. The people were impoverished. The smell in the air was a combination of kimchi and open sewers. The lowliest GI had more money than anyone in TDC, with the exception of the mamasans. All the girls in the clubs were Korean business girls, and the blacks (you claim to be black) were not welcomed by Koreans south of Camp Casey’s main gate. The Korean people were dirt poor but they had their gleaming ROK Army. I remember a sign hanging in a TDC shop window that read “If the 8th Army has it, we can get it”. That’s how TDC survived. Slicky boys and prostitutes. They had no viable industry. The air was full of coal dust. It was the most impoverished place I had ever seen. If you drove into the largest city, their capitol, Seoul, you saw people openly urinating on the streets. Now the people have industry. The Hyundai. Big deal. The rice paddies have been replaced by condominiums. I’ve seen the videos online. Tongduchon is now Dongducheon. It’s been given a face list. The old clubs no longer exist. The Korean business gals have been replaced by Russian and Filipina juicy girls, but guys like me who were there in the 60s will never forget what it used to be like. The Korean people today should be thankful for what they got from the US, but instead they have the nerve to laugh? At what? Don’t they know their brothers from the north have nuclear weapons aimed at them?

John#54: I was stationed in Korea in 64′(1st of 4 tour, I am very surprised that you know of two guys that ETS’d from the Army and stayed in Korea. The Army would never give a soldier discharge papers and let him choose to walk out the front gate. Everyone is put on a plane to CONUS in those days. Sounds dubious to me. The military in those days,
especially in the TDC area, had nothing regarding US contractors etc. A person can’t reside in Korea legally without being in that status or recruited by a Korean company of someone located in the states. I am curious to know if any other ROKDrop bloggers have a different take on this point.
I also think you are wrong in saying that #51 is not black.
What is that all about? The blacks were not viewed in a negative way, at least not overtly outside of the TDC area in
my opinion. Their money was wanted as well as any ones. Korea IS a big deal now in technology, electronics innovations, top rated vehicles, they are all over the middle east constructing buildings that will defy the imagination. Their Airport is considered the best in the world
I read somewhere. Get the Dec 2011 issue of Nat. Geographic
and check it out (I think that is the issue). In my opinion you are also mistaken about the nukes pointed at S. Korea
They are developing them to be sure but not to drop them on
the south. Why in the hell would they do that on a small peninsula they share and wipe themselves out too.

Wow, that brought back so serious memories. I hung at Cheers and Peace Clubs mostly and occasionally went down to Togather. Good times.

wow impressed cleaned up a lot/2nd engr bn,camp castle back when qhonsen huts,84-86,married wife died 97,kids 17 an 22,retired 2002,back in 1999,stuck uijonbue visted tdc ,seen old mr an mrs park houseboys,cant believe rendevous silverstar an some clubs still there,way many great memories,tanker ahjiema ramen lady in the field,Rich ur not the (huey pilot )stabbed me silver star 85 are you,ha ha,over chick in silver star with a beer bottle,little blood not hurt kept drinking another bar,cant keep a good combat engr down lol all good,good thing about tdc,even when ya just met back then still bonded,even though didnt know each other met at club partying,wow miss the times an memories married yong ye yun,paul friediborns girlfriend but he was married anyway ha ha,beautiful great hearted sexy women,good to me whole life till she died,THX PICS AN MEMORIES GUYS STAY ALIVE BEAT THE SYSTEM!

YEA JOHN,THEY HAD TO GO STATESIDE AN COME BACK IF WANTED TO STAY,BUT ACTIVE COULD KEEP EXTENDING I DID,THERE 99 BUNCH OF CIVILIANS EVERYWHERE LIVING NOW,WORKING ETC,I WAS STILL ACTIVE DUTY THEN TOO,64?WOW JOHN YOU HAD GOOD TIMES,CHEAP THEN IM SURE EVRYTHING BEER INCLUDED LOL

Although it has been 35yrs since I served with 1st 23/Inf Camp Hovey. After taken the bus ride to Casey for a pass, It seem so change for the future. Thanks for the good old memories of TDC………Can’t hold back the tears….again thanks……. SGT Armstrong A/Company 2nd Plt Camp Hovey 1975-1977………

Skip Hadsock response to 357

Couldn’t have been me Skip, I was at Ft Lost in the Woods in 1985, besides, I spent my Saturday afternoons and Sundays off taking MWR tours, learning Korean culture etc,etc. Not stabing fellow GI’s in the Country music club in Bosan-dong, some other guy from B co. 2nd AVN.

#51 is obviously a fake. Probably a norK trying to make a stir. It’s clear from the grammar that English is NOT the author’s first language.

I was station at Camp Castle from 81-82, 30 years ago, which was down the road from Casey. All I can say about these photos is WOW! The place has change a lot. Wish I had more photos of Castle and the ville from the time frame I was there.

My husband is stationed here at the moment, well, for the next two years. And pretty much everyone either goes to Rendevouz if you like dancing and rap music or the sportsmen for live rock band with a hot chick lead singer. So far I really like it!

Chelsea: Great “PMA” (positive mental attitude). Hope you take
advantage of the USO tours to really get an appreciation of what
Korea is like outside of the military environment if you have not
yet done so. Make sure you buy a point and shoot camera that can
go in your pocket. You will look back in retrospect and wish you
had later in life if you do not!!!

I was a plt ldr in the 1/17th Inf Bn (The Buffaloes) in 85-86. Man what a great tour. Loved partying in TDC. Yeah, I remember the Rendezvous. Obviously has had a face lift in the past 27 years… The Ville is very new and shiny looking compared to sleeze of the mid-80s…

I remember The Liberty Club, The Newhouse Club (across the tracks), The New York Club (the girls all wore evening gowns and two LTs from my Bn married girls from there), Club 54 (my favorite), and Mom’s Place (a little hole in the wall where my Bn hung out). Elysium Joy and Harley Rock n Roll (maybe the “Harley Club” in the pic above?) were little dive bars. I forget the name of the country-western shit kicker bar back then.

There were a couple of other bars on an alley over by Casey, across the main drag from “the ville” (aka “downrange” as we called it)… that stayed open later after the ville bars closed. One was The Log Cabin… I got hammered there with MG Gary Luck, our Div commander one night. Good dude, drank in the Club 57 one night and bought a round for my platoon… we were on a Thunder Run.

Good memories of my tour and real nostalgia for the mid 80s … wish I could do it again. When I was still in the Army and Guard I really wanted a return tour there… Still would like to visit but looking at these pics it’s like it’s a whole new town… In my mind the place has never changed, not sure I’d want to change that…

hello we live here right now and we i just want to map the shortest way from Jihaeng trainstation to the camp hovey gate. Does anyone know the street or landmark?? Thanks in advance.
Btw love it here, cant wait to try various different food and travel a lot.

hey you forgot to show a photo of the best breakfast restaurant in all of South Korea thats in the ville named Chongs Breakfast House. Is there a way to get photos of the ville now after the flood

I was in B Btry 1/31 Arty from 68-70 at Casey. Does anyone remember Pop Lee? He had a store/pawn shop right as you entered the ville after going over the train tracks. He could get you about anything you’d ever want.

John Chanik, #48: Sounds like you and I had the same experiences and the same memories of what it was like back then. Some of the pictures I have of the villages in the countryside look like they could have been taken in 1868 instead of 1968. Thatched roofs, rice paddies being plowed with oxen, old men carrying huge loads on A-frames. All gone, but not forgotten.

great photos. I served 4 tours.

A co 1/23 Nov 77 – Nov 78 (Cp Hovey)
B co 1/38 Dec 79 – Dec 82 (Cp Hovey)
HHC 2X NCOA Jun 84 – Sep 86 Btw Hovey and Casey)
DISCOM May 89 – May 92 (Cp Casey)

hard but good times all tours.

ed wrote:

B Co 1/38 Dec 79 – Dec 82 (Cp Hovey)

Was your company commander toward the end of this tour George Filbeck? George is now a civilian working at Yongsan.

thank you for nice picture ,,, i am iranian and i love tongdu chon city.
thank’s a lot

The only club I saw that was there in 74 75 was The Rendezvous Club. Does anybody know what happened to the Savoy Club or the New Korea Club that was next door to it?

TDC good time 1968

john you are in 1968 year book you drove a jeep

WHAT HAPPENED IN KOREA, STAYED IN KOREA EVEN THE SLANT EYE WHORES IN THE HOMES WITH SLIDING DOORS. 90% OF KOREANS MARRIED TO SOLDIERS IN KOREA WERE BUSINESS GIRLS (PROSTITUTES). ITS SO STRANGE THAT WHEN YOU ASK A SOLDIER IN THE U.S HOW HE MET HIS WIFE HE WILL SAY IN A BUS, A KOREAN SOLDIERS SISTER OR A KATUSA’S SISTER. MOST OF THE GIRLS I MET AT BARS IN KOREA, I MET AGAIN IN TEXAS , FT BRAGG , CALIFORNIA AND THEY WERE STILL DOING THEIR THING BEHIND HUBBY’S BACK. 30% OR MORE END UP DIVORCING THEIR HUSBANDS HERE IN THE U.S FOR SOMEONE WITH MORE RANK OR A GREAT PROFESSION. I REMEMBER MY NBC NCO HAD A FINE GIRL AND I WENT OUT WITH HER WHILE HE WAS IN THE FIELD AND IT WAS LIKE HEAVEN ESPECIALLY IT WAS MONSOON SEASON, WE MADE LOVE IN THAT HOOCH LIKE ROMANTIC PORNSTARS. I GOT CAUGHT WITH HER BY ANOTHER NCO HE TOLD THE COMMANDER WE BOTH DENIED IT, I GOT TRANSFERED TO INSTRUCT A RAPPELLING COURSE IN CHE-JU ISLAND. TDY . YOU FK UP YOU MOVE UP. HE STILL ENDED UP MARRYING HER. I GOT WITH HER AGAIN AND WHEN THEY CAME TO THE U.S HE WENT TO gERMANY FOR REFORGER AND GUESS WHO SPENT A MONTH WITH HER , YESSIR. AND AFTER 2 YEARS OF MARRIAGE SHE DIVORCED HIM AND MARRIED A DOCTOR ( OLDER SURGEON) AND GUESS WHO STILL GIVES HER THE LOVE INJECTIONS AND GREAT MEMORIES AND DRIVES HER IN THAT A SHE BOUGHT ME. THANK YOU JOHNNIE FROM JOHNNIE’S BAR FOR THIS ENCOUNTER. THE BIGGEST BOSS IN TDC, I WAS THERE 1979 TO 1983

SNIPER wrote:

MOST OF THE GIRLS I MET AT BARS IN KOREA, I MET AGAIN IN TEXAS , FT BRAGG , CALIFORNIA

You have a very vivid imagination.

Guitard: I think this guy Sniper went on this same rant a year or two
ago under another name. Bizarre.

I WAS IN KOREA 1963-1967 WITH THE ASA LOCATED IN CAMP CASEY. TODAYS PICTURES I LOOKED AT ARE A LOT DIFFERENT. I WAS A VILLAGE RAT FROM DAY ONE UNTIL THE DAY I LEFT. ENJOYED EVERY MINUTE OF IT. MY FAVORITE VILL CLUBS WAS THE NEW YORK AND SEOUL CLUB.

So, hadn’t been to TDC in about 20 years, went out to the Mustang Club, bought a few beers, came home early. My buddy that stayed there to get accosted to buy girls drinks, which he respectfully declined, decided to put his drinks on his credit card. He legitimately had about 30 dollars worth of drinks. He called American Express this morning, and they had his 30 dollar charge, and two more charges for 85, and a charge for 190. So, from what I can tell, I would steer clear of using a credit/debit card to pay for drinks at any of these bars… Cash only.

@79- Yes that is the general rule of thumb is to not use your credit card at those clubs in the ville. I have heard of many people getting ripped off that way.

What a change, 7th inf div medic.67-68 9mo Casey 6mo z

I was stationed at Camp Mobile back in 1994-1996 when it housed the Aviation Unit. At the time it was the most forward aviation unit to the DMZ. After I left it became the “turtle Farm”.

I never went to Toka-ri, but I spent MANY hours at the Las Vegas Club and the Silver Star club. We had a club gang called the Las Vegas Gamblers and we hung out and drank all night. We wore jean jackets with a patch of the dead mans hand on the back. I have very fond memories of walking round TDC Ville eating Yaki Mandu and going on Thunder Runs. I don’t remember many Juicey Girls back the to be honest, but an ajima named The Sergeant Major would always ask us if “we wanted lady, come lets go see”. If you said no, she bought you a soju shot and tried to convince you further.

The noodle shops over near the mink blanket shops and the guitar store across the entrance to Camp Mobile were awesome. I’d kill for a chicken cheese ramen from a place that was called OB’s Cabin.

Fond fond memories of the Ville man, so glad I found your site.

Thanx for the great pix & captions. I visited TDC ville many times in 1972. This brings back so many fond & nostalgic memories I can’t believe it. Maybe someday I’ll get back. I was trying to remember the names of some of the clubs & this refreshed my memory of several. Fun to see Miss Oh Shop as I made friends with a cute round-faced Miss Oh in ’72 who worked as a waitress @ the Long Beach Tea House on the edge of the TDC ville and wondering if & hoping it could be the same Miss Oh?

Well I’ll be damn they cleaned up TDC was there 79 – 81 had a blast. Was stationed at camp Hovey 1/38th b. co

loved every minute of it . Loved tok ki ri had plenty of women all over korea. only caught clap once. Brought lots

of clothes and shoes drank hard played hard and humped the yamma’s the next day good good times what I

Iwould give to be at pops store or the black rose

Hey any one out there from 1/38th B.CO 2nd pltn give me a shout out 1979 nov DMZ trip

I was there in 1966.
HQ HQ Co, 7th Inf Div. Train Fire Committee. I was an assistant instructor on the record fire rifle range out the back gate. I worked firing point number 7, it was 110 steps up to it. Point 8 was 179 steps if I remember correctly. Williams was the A.I. on 8.
Davis on number 6. Wish I could find them.
TDC is not recognizable to me in those photos. It was all MUD and sewage when I was there. I liked the Rendevous and Crown club.
Bob

Everything is new to me since 87-88 and i cant even oriented myself where everything is. all i remember crossing the railroad track and hang out on the club across it and studio54 located in the very end. i sometimes go to toki-re but then everything is nice since is closer to my barracks. used to remember mamasan could lend you money until payday with little interest. we dont have bank then with get our paycheck cash thru payroll officers that come around. How About turtle Ditch. when i got there in process 1/23 changing to 1/503rd and when my tour is half way we have ltc Mayes which became the cnn corrrespondent. miss the old day but i am glad i was station there . but is not as crazy as others eperience and now called TDC Ville?

Wow. Your posts bring back memories. I was stationed at Casey in 1991-92, and went back as a civilian from 1994-99. I knew Mr. Han. He wasn’t the “mob guy” people thought he was. But he could hold his own. I knew he died of a heart attack, but he was a serious runner….. I used to live in Cheers, and spent the night on Mrs. Yuns sofa many times. Good People

I think I was born in Bosan-Dong (Bosan-Ri at the time) in 1961. I wonder if anyone can recognize where the picture in my blog was taken. http://usdalton.blog.com/

I shared the link to this great post to FB, 2 Groups, Korean defense veterans and also Camp Casey Group, thanks for your post, sure it will bring back a lot of memories for some, and for some how the place has indeed changed, depending when they were there last.

At C1/9 Inf Hovey 77 to 78, nothing like the photos I see now of Toko-ri and TDC. Cannot remember a building in Toko-ri that was two storied. Shacks everywhere. Like the fellow said before no credit cards, no computers, no cell phones. Straight leg infantry. I kinda liked the place at 18 and 19 years old for the women. After leaving there and going to Campbell 2 different times there really wasn’t a lot of different off post except in Korea everything was on foot and close, everybody out for a buck on the GIs back epically at Campbell,retired first sergeants and sergeant majors renting out those dumpy trailers along 41A for $4oo plus a month, most likely at $1ooo now.I felt then during the peacetime Army when something was going on and rumors of us deploying going around that the community got all concerned not for us but for losing that money, not a lot of different if you ask me.

#91, the only people who give a CRAP about our GI’s are those who are directly affected (family, etc).
The Politicians of either party sure as he11 don’t care.
They are all FOR sending our guys into HARMS way but be sure you don’t “hurt anybody” or cause any “collateral damage”. You are supposed to DIE first!
I wonder how this idiots can sleep at night knowing they are sending some one into harms way and they have NO intention of WINNING!
We haven’t learned a dam*ed thing since Vietnam!!
The only thing the politicians do well is “snatch defeat from the jaws of victory that our soldiers had won”

You got that right about the only people that gives a crap are your own and unfortunately there are a few and I really believe very few of them will stick it to you.Mostly the Politicians are corrupt self serving bunch from the smallest hick town to the top, makes my blood boil thinking of the mostly poor Vietnam soldiers that didn’t have a choice and the crap they went thru while the good ole boy system clicked along, a couple years older and I would’ve told you all about Vietnam. During my 9 years of service had plenty of Vietnam vets as platoon and first sergeants during their tour they were a damn if you did and damn if you didn’t bunch. Wish that today’s soldiers could be allowed to complete their mission and go home.

I was there in 84 and 85. Photos are amazing….. I recognize NOTHING. I loved the ville. Partied my @$$ off. It was the land of $10 short times and $20 long times, cheap beer and very cheap soju. They were trying to raise the prices to $20 and $30 towards the end of my tour. We were constantly berating the turtles to not fall for that s*** and stick to $10 and $20. Stupid turtles were wrecking the economy. (And whats up with women from other countries?!?! When I was there it was all Korean girls.)

I was fortunate enough to spend most of my tour TDY which only put me at Casey on weekends. That enabled me to get out of most of the 2nd ID Army BS yet still be there on the weekends to enjoy the ville.

While I had unbelievable fun, ridiculously unsupervised (Army wise) freedom, during my weekly TDY travels, and met some great people, saw some cool places and had some truly awesome times, nothing was as wide open as good ol’ TDC. I was always anxious to get back there every Friday just because of the upcoming partying! Actually wide open doesn’t really fully describe TDC. It was a young mans paradise. Always wanted to get back there…. never did.

Don’t recognize anything anymore. Was in the 1/17th CS company at Casey 82-83 (now long gone). Loved the ville. It was the most awesome place for an 18-19 year old man to feel his oats. Soju, OB Beer and business girls. Hung at the Lucky Club (hottest girls at the time) and a couple of the metal bars that had about 6 tables and floor to ceiling speakers. Anyone remember the top ten VD sign as you left the gate? BJ Alley was always at the top of the list! Had the time of my life there. Couldn’t wait to leave and go back to The World (still have my short timers calendar), but I still remember that place as probably the best time I ever had.

Would love to go back someday to take it all in again

Hell yah TDC was a single mans paradse, provided you wrapped your winky. I was ther from 9/86 till 2/88 with 122nd signal @casey. I recognized very little, the first club on the strip was then called the lucky club. Usually # fuc### hana on the VD list. Me and my crue usually hung @ the Starz club, because they didn’t have girls. Just unlimited Heavy metal music, the place really rocked. It must be gone, I did’t see it in any of the pics. Too bad! I always wanted to get back.

[…] activities and food.  This year, I decided to check out Camp Casey’s festivities in Dongducheon since it was the closest venue to where I live now.  Out of my close to 9 years in Korea so far, I […]

Yes the 79-80-81 period was interesting From Tac Squad Patrolling the village to manning the gate to the trips to see the sights, It was a time for us to grow, lets see the night the soldier threw the Grenade into the Pmo i think I was working on the blotter, lucky we were above the blast area and had some protection the concussion was a bit rough, now when white went for a walk to north korea that was interesting, oh the change of uniforms was during that time to the new camo style, I traded a set of Greens for a new set of camos with a new recruit, making beds , washing your clothes Ironing polishing your boots, nope we had Barny to do that and he charged so little, we know a inspection was going to happen if our uniforms were hanging out, Roy and sweed and me would head out and have fun, now i hope that brought back a few memories.

 

A Profile of the “TDC Ville”, South Korea

| August 15, 2007

The “TDC Ville” known in Korean as Bosan-dong, is the section of the city of Dongducheon located just across the street from the front gate of Camp Casey.


Camp Casey front gate, with Soyo Mountain in the background. I once saw a soldier arrested by the KNPs for pissing on the Indian statue.

This area is known as the “TDC Ville” because Dongducheon used to spelled Tonducheon and was shortened by soldiers to TDC. The ville is a bunch of old run down buildings that house a mixture of eating establishments, clubs, and shopping stores. The ville has actually seen much recent change. A large portion of the ville was knocked down to make way for the new subway line that runs through Dongducheon now.


New Dongducheon subway station

The new subway station is just a short walk five minute walk south of Camp Casey’s gate one. The subway is connected to the Seoul subway system and the trains running from Dongducheon actually reach Uijongbu in about 20 minutes. To reach downtown Seoul it takes about an hour and a half. Soldiers can even take this subway line all the way to Songtan, just outside of Osan Airbase, but it is a long two and a half hour ride.


Some of the new buildings across the street from Camp Casey. 

One of the fortunate things about knocking down the old buildings is that it has actually brought some much needed urban renewal to the ville. Some park like features have been constructed along with some newer buildings. There are still a number of vacant lots where nothing has been built yet, but I’m sure additional buildings will be constructed in due time.


Vacant lots left over from the subway construction

The ville is boxed on its eastern side by Highway 3 while on its western side is the Highway 3 bypass and to it’s north is Camp Mobile. The south of the ville is the Korean portion of Dongducheon known as the 2nd Market area.


Ville area highlighted in red

Shopping in the Ville
The shopping in the ville is really outstanding. You can buy a great hand made suit for about a $100. The tailors can make any suit that you have a picture of. I currently own three suits made in the TDC ville and I have never had any problem with them. You can also have leather jackets made. My leather jacket has lasted seven years so far with no defects. In the ville you can have unit coins, plaques, and other memorabilia made for the half the price it would cost you in the states. I actually had a buddy state side who sent me money to buy some plaques for his unit and to mail them to him because it was cheaper buying plaques from Korea and shipping them then buying them at his current post.


Plenty of shopping to be found in the TDC Ville

You can also buy lots of great Korean trinkets to send to your friends and family. Plus if you like furniture, Korea sells lots of beautiful hand crafted furniture with great oriental designs on them. This is just a small sample of what is for sale in the ville. If you need something the shop owners will find it and sell it to you at a reasonable price. Just make sure you bargain with them because the shop owners will initially give you a high price. In Asian culture you are expected to haggle over prices. So don’t feel rude trying to drive a hard bargain with the local shop owners because it will save you money.


The view from the entrance into the TDC Ville

The Food
The only American fast food establishment off post is the Subway located just outside the front gate. There is actually a Kentucky Fried Chicken located in the actual Korean part of Dongducheon but it is located quite a distance from the camp. The other restaurants are local Koreans who cook up everything from hamburgers, steaks, pizza, and Korean food for hungry GIs. Also it is possible to find Filipino eating establishments as well.

The Night Life
As far as the night life is concerned the TDC ville is loaded with clubs. The majority of the clubs are really sleazy joints with the infamous “drinky girls” in them. If you don’t know what a drinky girl is, let me explain it to you. A drinky girl is usually a third country national from mostly the Philippines that you can buy a drink of usually orange juice for $20 bucks and they sit there and make conversation with you. I’m not kidding it costs $20! What is more amazing is that people keep buying them these drinks. The last time I was in Korea the girls would at least hang all over you and you could feel them up but things have changed now quite a bit.


Picture of a “juicy girl” in the TDC Ville from a Time Magazine article on human trafficking and the US military in Korea.

Plus the last time I was in Korea the prostitution was quite public and in the open. The bar owners would always hit you up to buy the girl’s time for $200-$400 and to go back to the hotel and do whatever. However, things now are much more concealed due to the recent exposure the whole prostitution scene received due to multiple exposes’ in multiple media outlets expressing their outrage at prostitution in Korea. The problem I got with this publicity is that it is implied that the US Army is allowing this prostitution to go on when it is the Koreans that are allowing it.

What really annoys me is that the drinky girls in the media are treated as victims even though most of them know what they are getting into and enjoy the attention and financial incentives of being a drinky girl. The few Russian girls that are left are in it for money and are really smart about playing soldiers and sucking as much money out of them as possible. I know many a GI that has lost his shirt to a Russian drinky girl. The Filipino drinky girls are mostly looking to get married to a GI so they can escape the poverty of their home country. I can’t say I blame them.


A street filled with sleazy bars in the TDC Ville.

However, the juicy girls that do play soldiers are extremely effective and if you go through my USFK Crime Archive you will see many cases of soldiers committing crime to feed their juicy girl habit. For some soldiers these girls are like drugs and is a leadership challenge that is unique to Korea that NCOs and officers coming to Korea should be aware of. Some of these relationships between young GIs and these girls in the bars end up becoming a marriage that from my own experiences I have seen filled with problems and with most of them failing.

Despite everything I have said about the juicy girls there are some good clubs in TDC. The website for Mojo’s Bar. has a pretty good list of the various bars in the ville as well as which ones to look out for. Some additional clubs worth checking out are located in the actual Korean part of Dongducheon commonly referred to as the 2nd Market Area. Have a KATUSA buddy bring you to one of these clubs so you can try something different out. Who knows you might like it. Plus there are also lots of coffee shops in the area that have phones on the tables where you can call other tables in the shop on. Weird, but fun believe it or not.

Be careful in the 2nd Market area though because there is an area near the bus station where Korean prostitutes display themselves in windows for potential customers that is known as the “Turkey Farm” that is off limits by the army. It is supposed to be off limits due to health reasons but I think it is more because the Koreans don’t want GIs messing with their prostitutes. Also in the 2nd Market Area there is lots of shopping you can do, but once again be careful because the infamous TA-50 Alley is also off limits to US personnel where they sell military equipment stolen by “slicky boys“.


A small park that has been built in the TDC Ville in recent years.

You can view more updated pictures of the TDC Ville now known as Bosan-dong at this link.

The Toko-ri Ville
Another ville area in Dongducheon is the village of Toko-ri right outside the back gate of Camp Hovey:


Toko-ri as viewed from Google Earth.

Toko-ri a few years ago used to be one dirty, sleazy, and crazy place. If you have ever watched the first Stars Wars movie and remember the bar with the space aliens in it, in the city of Mos Eisley, that is what Toko-ri was like.

Obi-wan Kenobi once described Mos Eisley as a “wretched hive of scum and villainy”, Toko-ri wasn’t much different. However, instead of horned, green, or beady eyed aliens, Toko-ri had Filipino and Russian juicy girls covered in chocolate and wax, a retarded barmaid, strippers that used to hold what was known as the P***y Olympics led by a Korean woman known as the Dragon Lady who did anatomy defying things with cigars and beer bottles, and to top it off there was even a midget. Before I had even ever stepped foot in Korea I had heard about the Midget of Toko-ri from old crusty NCOs about how they used to “stick to the midget” especially on New Years; that is how well known she is in the US military. After seeing the midget for myself I can’t imagine why anyone would want to “stick it to the midget”, but hey to each their own.

Anyway I have heard that Toko-ri has really died down and is not the wild place it used to be. I wasn’t able to confirm this myself on my last trip to Korea since my wife probably wouldn’t like the idea of me trying to confirm the status of the P***y Olympics, chocolate covered juicies, and the Midget of Toko-ri. So if anyone reading this knows the current status of Toko-ri feel free to offer you two cents in the comments section.

You can view more updated pictures of Toko-ri which is now spelled Teokgeo-ri at this link.

Overall – As you can see, the options in the TDC Ville are quite numerous. Great shopping, adequate eating establishments, and a very lively night club scene is enough to keep any GI stationed at Camp Casey occupied. It should be enough to do to get you through a year in 2ID. However, just don’t lose your shirt in the ville. Remember drinky doesn’t love you, she loves your wallet. Keep that attitude and you will be alright.

Note: You can read more from the ROK Drop featured series “A Profile of USFK Bases” at the below link:

A Profile of USFK Camps In Dongducheon, South Korea

| August 5, 2007

The 2nd Infantry Divison, USFK lone combat unit in Korea is composed of two main hubs. The first hub are the camps located in the Uijongbu area just north of Seoul. Uijongbu is home to logistical, communications, and command & control units while the city of Dongducheon located 20 kilometers north of Uijongbu on Highway 3, is home to the division’s combat arms units. The division’s infantry, armor, engineer, and artillery units are all located in the Dongducheon area:

Camp Kwangsa-ri
The first camp in the Casey area is called Camp Kwangsa-ri, which is located halfway between Dongducheon and Uijongbu. The camp serves as a ammunition storage facility for the 2ID and is only staffed with a handful ordinance soldiers, a few American civilian workers, many Korean workers, and a ROK Army unit. I have been to Camp Kwangsa-ri more times than I care to remember handling ammunition issues, but the biggest story to ever come out of this camp was when a corruption scandal was uncovered on the camp in 2005 involving a Korean worker named Mr. Kim who was stealing expended ammunistion brass from the camp to resell to a private company. Mr. Kim made $300,000 from the scam and is still at large to this day.

Dongducheon
Just of the road from Camp Kwangsa-ri is the city of Dongducheon. Dongducheon by Korean standards is considered a backwater city even though it has a population of nearly 80,000 people. The city also has long had a seedy reputation due to being home to a large number of US military camps over the years:

The city and especially Camp Casey and Hovey are ringed with steep mountains including the popular local mountain Soyosan that makes up the northern boundary of Camp Casey. A river runs through the center of the city and is known to flood from time to time. In 1997 the entire Dongducheon “ville” area was underwater during the worst flood in recent memory.

Most people in the city either directly or indirectly are dependent on the USFK presence for their livelihood. However, factories staffed with third world laborers continue to sprout up in the area to contribute to the local economy as well. The mixture of Koreans, third world laborers, and US soldiers does give the city a vibe very different from everywhere else in Korea.

Camp Casey
The biggest camp by far in Dongducheon is Camp Casey:

The camp was named in 1952 after Major Hugh Casey who was an engineer officer that was awared the Distinguished Service Cross for combat actions during the evacuation of Hungnam, North Korea. Casey would later die in December 1951 when the light observer plane he was flying in was shot down by ground fire and crashed on a small hill in the middle of present day Camp Casey. This hill to this day is marked by a large white cross that can be seen from just about anywhere on Camp Casey.

Camp Casey is a large sprawling base located farther north than any other major US military camp in Korea. The camp is only 15 miles straight line distance from the DMZ that separates the two Koreas. Camp Casey is so close to the DMZ you would think it would be quite a spartan installation. That is not the case, as the camp has every facility any other US Army installation has:

It has numerous eating establishments both fast food and sit down restaurants. There are two different Burger King locations, a Popeye’s Chicken, Dunkin Donuts, Anthony’s Pizza, and a Taco Bell. The Primo’s restaurant has a really good lunch buffet that is worth checking out as well.

The largest PX in 2ID can be found here to buy all the latest products and a decent commissary that includes most the foods you would find in the states. The camp also has a nice bookstore and sports shop. The PX also has a number of Korean stores where you can buy typical Korean products, but they are quite expensive compared to buying the same items off post.

Camp Casey is filled with athletic facilities. There are gyms and weight rooms are spread out all over the camp plus numerous football and softball fields are available as well. Throughout the year there are numerous athletics leagues running that encompasses every major sport played in the US. The competition in these leagues is usually very competitive because most soldiers are in Korea away from their families for a year and thus focus much on sports to keep them busy.

The camp also has plenty of entertainment options. There are multiple bars on the camp and a dance club located in Primo’s. Near the PX there is also a nice bowling alley for the bowlers out there. The golf course is quite popular and usually filled unsurprisingly with Korean golfers.

Some of the major units on Camp Casey include Taskforce 1-72 Armor, 2-9 Infantry, 302nd Brigade Support Battalion, 1-38 Field Artillery, & 6-37 Field Artillery.

Golsandong
An unusual fact about Camp Casey is that it actually contains its own Korean village called Golsandong:

The village is actually spread out among the hills to the east of Camp Casey and contains 48 homes with 116 residents:

These homes can only be reached by driving through Camp Casey. So if you are stationed on Camp Casey and see some Koreans driving farming equipment on post, now you know why.

Camp Hovey
Located adjacent to Camp Casey is the medium sized installation of Camp Hovey.

The camp is named after Master Sergeant Howard Hovey who ended up being one of the last Americans to die during the Korean War during the battle of Pork Chop Hill in July 1953. For his heroic actions defending the hill from the massive Chinese offensive he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.


MSG Howard Hovey

Camp Hovey has plenty of facilities to include a restaurant and club, a video store, gymnasium, and sports field. One minus about Camp Hovey is the distance from the PX and commissary on Camp Casey. It is about a 20 minute bus ride from Hovey to reach the PX.

The front gate of the camp is bordered by the sleazy and run down ville of Toko-ri:

You can read more about Teokgeo-ri at the below link:

Some of the major units on Camp Hovey includes 1-15 Field Artillery, 4-7 US Cavalry, & 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion.

Camp Mobile
Located right across Highway 3 from Camp Casey is small installation Camp Mobile:

Camp Mobile was known for decades by 2ID soldiers as the “Turtle Farm” because it was the location of the 2ID Replacement Company. The new soldiers that arrived at Camp Mobile were known as “turtles” because they had so long to go before their tour in Korea would be complete. Since the Replacement Company was on the camp the Central Issue Facility (CIF) was established on Camp Mobile to field gear to all the new soldiers.

I remember my first time pulling into Camp Mobile. I had been on a bus from Kimpo Airport and pulled into this camp that reminded me more of a concentration camp than a military installation due to the drab buildings, quonset huts, and barbed wire. This place was not a welcoming site to anyone pulling into 2ID for the first time. Fortunately the Replacement Company was moved to the much more hospitable Camp Stanley in Uijongbu. The company is now known as the Warrior Readiness Company.

Camp Mobile also has an air strip on it that is used for helicopter landings as well as UAV operations. The only thing I remember more than arriving to the “turtle farm” for the first time was waiting in the freezing cold of February for four hours on the air strip to do an air assault training operation with the 1-503 Infantry. We absolutely froze waiting for the helicopters that would never seen to show up. Finally we were told it was to cold and the visibility to poor for the helicopters to come. There was some seriously pissed off infantrymen that day.

Camp Nimble
Just down the road from both Camp Casey and Camp Mobile is the now vacated Camp Nimble:

Camp Nimble before closing, was home to two companies from the 702nd MSB. These two companies contained the military semi-trucks used to transport cargo and equipment for the division. This may be why it was named Camp Nimble:

I’m sure the camp had its good points, but to me Camp Nimble never seemed like a good place to be stationed and the roads leading from the camp were quite narrow and definitely a traffic hazard for military vehicles trying to drive through there. Fortunately this camp has finally been closed down.

Camp Castle
Just north of Camp Casey is the small installation of Camp Castle. Camp Castle for decades was home to the engineers units thus the reason for the name of Camp Castle. The engineers moved off the camp in 2004 and has been occupied by the 702nd Brigade Support Battalion since:

Something unusual about this camp is that the motorpool is located on the opposite side of Highway 3 from the rest of the camp. The motorpool is accessed by a pedestrian overpass.

Camp Castle is further divided with a small warehouse located just north of Camp Castle’s main post which is known as Camp Castle North:

The warehouse on Camp Castle North is used by the division to turn in old equipment to the support battalion unit that operates the warehouse. This is another place I have spent way to much time at before.

Overall, the Camp Casey area is not a bad posting considering how close to freedom’s frontier one is stationed. Combined the camps have just about every facility you could expect on any other US military installation and transportation to and from the post continues to improve, especially with the opening of the new subway station in Dongducheon. So if you get stationed in the Camp Casey area it is not the end of the world and it is not that bad of a place. Like most things in Korea, it is all what you make of it.

Note: You can read more from the ROK Drop featured series “A Profile of USFK Bases” at the below link:

Ville Memories: The Rendezvous Club

| February 17, 2007

This posting about memorable bar brawls over at Blackfive got me thinking about memorable brawls I have witnessed during my time in Korea.  I have seen plenty of stupid drunken beer brawls in the ville, but they usually ended pretty quick and were relatively unmemorable.  Just a bunch of drunks pushing and shoving acting tough, the whole while someone would break them up.  There was a couple of fights though that were quite memorable that I will never forget.  The first one was at the Rendezvous Club over in Dongducheon.

Back in the day the Rendezvous Club was a nice place to go to meet local Korean girls because there were no juicy girls there at the time.  The club was really the only place in the ville where locals and GIs mixed.  The locals would arrive in the club right after curfew hit because back then the vast majority of GIs in the ville were gone and back on Camp Casey because of the curfew.  The few GIs that remained in the ville past curfew had what was called a Warrior Pass.  Back then every company had a limited number of Warrior Passes that the First Sergeant and Commander could give to people to stay out after curfew.  The soldiers that had Warrior Passes were usually older, more mature, and higher ranking and not from the younger 18-21 year old age group that statistics show cause the majority of alcohol related incidents.  Plus the younger soldiers that received a Warrior Pass for the weekend usually used it to hang out with juicy girls all night and not to hang out at the Rendevous Club with local Koreans.  The locals all knew this and thus had no problems mixing with the soldiers that did go to the Rendezvous Club after curfew.

The Rendezvous Club was really a nice place back then and was operated by a guy named Mr. Han.  Mr. Han was not your average GI ville bar owner.  Mr. Han if I had to guess was about 35-40 years old back then and over 6 feet tall, well built, with really long hair.  He had a few huge Koreans working security for him at the club and he always made sure his club had the most beautiful female bartenders in town.  The local police would occasionally stop by and pay their respects to Mr. Han as well.  In short he was the perfect stereotype of a Korean gangster.

Mr. Han from what I heard was one of the head Korean mob bosses in TDC and operated a number of the juicy girl clubs in the ville.  Anyway there I was, drinking a few beers with Mr. Han with a few of my buddies at the bar counter.  We were all friendly with Mr. Han since we frequented his club so often.  He spoke good English and despite being a mob figure was actually a really nice guy to us GIs.  Anyway a fight broke out towards the front of the bar where the dance floor was at.  No soldiers were involved, it was strictly a Korean on Korean fight.  There must of been about 15-20 people going at it and then some guy grabbed a beer glass and threw it at this other guy, but missed and the glass shattered against the wall near some Korean females.

That was when Mr. Han sprang into action.  He suddenly jumped over the bar and landed a round house kick on the guy that threw the glass.  That kick could have been straight from a Korean gangster flick.  From there he preceded to kick the living crap out of him and then turned his attention to another guy and began using more kung fu moves on him.  Mr. Han and the club security got the fight under control and literally kicked the people out.  The first guy Mr. Han had kicked the crap out of could not leave the club under his own power.  The club security just grabbed him and threw him out in the street in front of the club.  After the fight we figured it was probably a good time to finish our beers and get out there.

We walked outside and the guy that got the crap beaten out of him was still laying in the street in front of the club.  A soldier I didn’t know was walking down the street and saw the guy bleeding and came over to assist him.  He said he was medic.  He started checking the guy out and one the club’s security guards that was standing at the entrance of the club came over and told the medic to leave him alone.  So that is what we did, we left him alone and walked way.  There is times where you have to let Koreans handle business their own way and this was definitely one of those times.  The guy was left to bleed in the street as a reminder to everyone else to not start any fights in the Rendezvous Club.

I haven’t been stationed at Camp Casey since then and I haven’t been to the Casey ville for years so I have no idea if the Rendezvous club is even open any more or if Mr. Han still operates the place.  If so he is a nice guy to us GIs, but whatever you do don’t piss him off.  If anyone has any interesting fights they remember in Korea feel free to comment on them.  By the way here is a link to the funniest fight I have ever seen in Korea.