Tag: KATUSA

It is interesting how transparent the KATUSA selection process has become to include now even a publicly viewable lottery system. In the past their was a lot of suspicion of rich and connected families receiving the KATUSA slots for their mandatory service:

Applicants and their parents vying for a military service placement in the Korean Augmentation to the United States Army (KATUSA) attend a lottery at the Military Manpower Administration (MMA) office in Daejeon, Thursday. Yonhap

Silence filled the room as young men and parents waited anxiously to hear their fate at the Military Manpower Administration (MMA) headquarters in Daejeon, Nov. 2, during a lottery to select who would join the Korean Augmentation to the United States Army (KATUSA).

The descion was made within a few minutes in a lucky draw. The 30 or so young men and their parents, who showed up on behalf of their sons, were among the 15,360 applicants nationwide who signed up for this year’s competition to serve at U.S. Army bases across the nation. 

Among them, only 1,762 would make the cut — a competition ratio of 8.7 to 1. 

Some bit their lips, while others closed their eyes for a moment of prayer as MMA officials prepared red, yellow and blue colored and numbered balls for the computerized lottery program.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Here is one of these only in Korea stories. There are not many countries that would have pop stars completing mandatory military service like Korea does:

K-pop idol Kang Young-hyun, best known as Young K to fans of his group Day6, is a winner in the Eighth Army’s Best Warriors competition in South Korea.

There’s a lot to sort out there, so let’s take things a step at a time and decode that sentence.

Forty-nine U.S. and Korean Augmentation to the U.S. Army, or KATUSA, soldiers participated in a six-day competition that included events like an eight-mile march, small arms qualification, land navigation, water survival, obstacle courses, knot-tying and overall military knowledge.

The Eighth crowned winners in categories like best soldier, best noncommissioned officer, best officer and best warrant officer.

Military.com

You can read more at the link, but Kang won the KATUSA category of the Best Warrior competition. The next level of competition is at U.S. Army Pacific in Hawaii. According to the article it is unclear if Yang will compete in this competition. Regardless it is great to see Yang not trying to dodge service like some other celebrities have been able to do. It is also awesome to see him taking his service seriously and pushing himself like he did to win this competition.

KATUSA’s and ROK civilians working for USFK will be given a choice of whether they want to take the COVID vaccine or not:

 The defense ministry decided Wednesday to allow South Korean soldiers and civilian workers affiliated with the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) to get COVID-19 vaccinations with doses shipped from the U.S. for its service members stationed here, officials said. 

The South Korean troops affiliated with the Korean Augmentation to the U.S. Army, known as KATUSA, as well as civilians working for USFK, are eligible for the inoculation according to the U.S. government’s vaccination plan, and USFK and Seoul’s defense ministry have discussed the matter.

“We’ve notified USFK of our decision that the inoculation will be possible if the Korean nationals can make a voluntary decision and the U.S. military provides a list of those taking shots to our side,” the defense ministry said in a statement.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Is anyone surprised that the person who assigns prosecutors was not found of any wrong doing?:

The prosecution on Monday cleared Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae of allegations that she had abused her power to arrange special treatment for her son while he was serving the military in 2017.    
   
The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office announced Monday it found no grounds on which to indict Choo, her son or her former aide after a monthslong probe into the allegations.    
   
Choo and her family have been battling accusations that her son, surnamed Seo, had received special treatment when he was serving in the Korean Augmentation to The United States Army, or Katusa, from November 2016 through August 2018. At the time, Choo was the chairwoman of the ruling Democratic Party (DP).   (…….)

The prosecution added that Seo had asked Choo’s aide to inquire the military about the extension, not his parents.    
   
The prosecution also dismissed the suspicion that Choo or her husband had asked the Ministry of National Defense to arrange the extension. Although a document purported to be a military record created by Seo’s commander on June 15, 2017 said that Seo’s parents had made a request to the ministry, the prosecution said it failed to find any record from the ministry to corroborate it.   

Joong Ang Ilbo via a reader tip

You can read more at the link, but since Choo’s aid supposedly helped her son that makes it okay then?

Here is the latest on the ruling party’s attempt to defend the ROK Justice Minister meddling to receive preferential treatment for her KATUSA son:

In particular, DPK spokesman Rep. Park Sung-joon’s remarks, in which he compared Choo’s son to the late independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun, have brought strong criticism from the opposition and the public. (……….)

Citing Choo’s account, Rep. Park said in a statement, Wednesday, “Choo’s son lived up to what independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun said: ‘it is soldiers’ duty to sacrifice themselves for the country.'” (……….)

Seo served as a member of the Korea Augmentation Troops to the United States Army (KATUSA), a position that Rep. Woo Sang-ho was apparently derogatory about in describing the “easy” duty of such soldiers when he tried to defend Choo against the allegations that she used her influence to have him assigned to an “easier” post.

“Serving as a KATUSA is an easy posting itself, so the dispute is meaningless,” Woo said in a media interview, Sept. 9. “Taking leave or not, or having a post or another ― these are meaningless as a KATUSA.”

His remarks led KATUSA reservists calling for an apology.

Korea Times via a reader tip

You can read more at the link, but KATUSAs demanding an apology for being called out for easy service is mildly amusing. Truthfully it really depends on what unit they end up in. I have seen some KATUSAs who were worked very hard by their U.S. military leadership while others did very little. Overall though being a KATUSA is better duty than being a draftee in a frontline ROK Army unit.

Despite all the dirt that is coming out on Cho Mi-ae, since she is the Justice Minister covering up all the illegal deeds around the Moon administration, I doubt anything will happen to her:

When Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae was serving as the ruling party’s chairwoman, someone from her officeasked the Defense Ministry to give preferential treatment to her son, who was doing his military service, former Defense Minister Song Young-moo told the JoongAng Ilbo on Monday.    

In an exclusive phone interview with the newspaper on Monday, Song said he recently learned that the military was asked to select Choo’s son as an interpreter for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in February 2018.    

Song served as defense minister from July 2017 to September 2018, and Choo served as chairwoman of the Democratic Party (DP) from August 2016 to August 2018. She became justice minister in January 2020.    

“I belatedly received a briefing yesterday that such a request had been made, but [officers in charge of the selection process] rejected it,” Song said Monday. “I was briefed that the request came from the office of the DP’s chairwoman.”    

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) has raised a series of allegations that Choo abused her power to seek special treatment for her son when he was serving his mandatory military duty. Choo’s son, surnamed Seo, served in the Korean Augmentation to the United States Army, or Katusa, for the 2nd Infantry Division of the U.S. 8th Army from November 2016 through August 2018.    

In his latest revelation, PPP Rep. Shin Won-sik, a former lieutenant general who once served as deputy chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Sunday that officials in the administration and the National Assembly had tried to influence the selection process of military interpreters for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics to grant a post to Seo.    

Shin quoted a former Army colonel who served as the commander of the Katusa forces at the time, as saying that he was pressured by the office of the defense minister and the liaison office of the National Assembly to dispatch Seo as an interpreter to the sporting event. The colonel said he had resisted the pressure to ensure fairness and selected 65 soldiers for the plum assignments by drawing lots.   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but good on this Colonel for resisting the pressure from both the Defense Minister and National Assembly to select Choo’s son for the position.

Another week and yet another corruption allegation coming from a member of the ruling government:

Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae is in the hot seat over her alleged illicit use of her prior position in the ruling party to help her son receive preferential treatment during his mandatory military service years ago.

She is the second justice minister to be embroiled in allegations of using influence for family members, following Cho Kuk who allegedly helped his children gain fraudulent admissions to prestigious universities, although the position is meant to require a higher morality in law abidance than other officials. There is now rising criticism that these allegations involving former and incumbent justice ministers are damaging the spirit of equality, fairness and justice ― the so-called key values that the Moon Jae-in administration has pledged to pursue since its inauguration.

The allegations concern Choo’s son surnamed Seo, who was assigned to the Korean Augmentation Troops to the United States Army (KATUSA) to carry out his mandatory service from 2016 to 2018.

Seo apparently had two consecutive sick leaves for a combined 19 days in June 2017 for knee surgery, which was rather long compared to other cases. However, there are no military record regarding this leave, although Seo’s lawyer claims he submitted all the necessary documents at that time, including medical certificates from doctors. At the time Choo was the head of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).

In response to the allegation, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said at a National Assembly session Tuesday that the leave was approved according to due procedure but there were some administrative errors.

It is also alleged that after the 19-day sick leave, Seo did not return to his base and did not report this until his absence was noticed by a senior soldier two days later. He was also absent for a further two days. One of Choo’s aides allegedly called an officer at Seo’s unit and asked him to record the four-day absence as part of annual leave ― a request that was complied with ― according to the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), formerly the United Future Party.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but how pathetic her son must be to sham out of KATUSA duty? He should sent to make up the mandatory military service time he missed in a frontline ROK infantry unit.