Tag: Korea

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

During the period of 2000-2004 USFK servicemembers were subject to a number of anti-American incidents especially after the 2002 Armored Vehicle Accident where an environment was created that encouraged altercations with US military members.  Arguably the worst anti-American incident during this time period was the 2002 Seoul Subway Kidnapping.  In September  2002 three USFK servicemembers, Private John Murphy, Private Eric Owens, and Private Shane Tucker were traveling back to Camp Red Cloud in Uijongbu from Seoul on the subway system that runs between the two cities.

The three soldiers were sitting in a subway car when approached by a group of South Koreans led by the the 65 year old Suh Kyung-won.  Suh was a long time anti-US activist and former member of parliament in South Korea that had been convicted in 1989 for spying for North Korea.  Suh’s group was handing out flyers critical of the US military and the armored vehicle accident that happened 3 months prior.  They were handing out the flyers to people on the subway as their group traveled to a major anti-US rally at Kyunghee University.

Suh approached the three soldiers and tried to give them a leaflet.  One of the soldiers Private John Murphy refused the leaflet and Suh slapped him in the face and was accosted by the other members of the group.  Suh said he slapped Murphy in the face because he cursed at him.  Suh however does not speak English so how he would know for sure that Murphy cursed at him or not is open to debate.  Murphy said he responded to the assault by Suh and other group members by swinging wildly to defend himself which included punching Suh in the face.  The three soldiers moved to a different subway car and then got off the subway to wait for another train to get away from Suh’s group.  However, the stop they got off on was the one where the anti-US protest was being held.  The three soldiers now found themselves being ”pulled, punched, kicked and spat upon by demonstrators” as they tried to get away from them.  As the soldiers were being beaten and pulled towards the Kyunghee University stadium by the growing mob the Korean riot police who had been stationed near the university for an unrelated event were able to intervene and rescue two of the soldiers from the mob.

The video opens with a one-minute statement by Suh recounting the evening’s events. The next 100 seconds show a chaotic street scene, with squadrons of riot-geared police and protesters running and cursing. Police are running while escorting Owens and Tucker from the mob.

An alarmed Owens and Tucker are seen running to police behind barricades at the hospital entrance.

“We have three friends. We have three,” shouts one of the soldiers.

“One more,” says the other. “Yellow. Yellow shirt. Yellow,” he said, tugging on his own shirt in an apparent reference to Murphy, who wore a school-bus-yellow shirt that day.

The video cuts to a vivid scene between South Korean protesters and riot police. One policeman bashes a protester with his shield, wounding the protester’s face. Other protesters throw items at police and kick them.

“How come you guys hit us to protect Americans?” the protesters scream.  [Stars & Stripes]

Unfortunately the anti-US Voice of People website that published video of the incident has since removed the video from their website, but fortunately the Stars & Stripes published what was said.  I find it interesting how the xenophobia of the protesters by thinking the police would just give up the soldiers who are being beaten simply because of their nationality.  Their friend Private Murphy remained detained by the mob and brought to the stadium to witness the anti-US rally.  There according to the US military he  ”was photographed, videotaped and allegedly forced to make a public statement about the incident on the train.”  The US military also criticized the Korean police for allegedly letting the demonstrators take Murphy with them.

Private John Murphy during his detainment at a anti-US rally at Kyunghee University.

At the rally one of the key statements that Murphy was forced to say was that the US military should give up legal jurisdiction of the two soldiers involved in the 2002 Armored Vehicle Incident back to Korean authorities.  For those that do not know the US-ROK Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) allows the US military to keep legal jurisdiction over servicemembers involved in incidents while on duty.  Since the armored vehicle accident happened while on duty the US military kept jurisdiction over the case.  If the accident had happened off duty while driving a civilian car the soldiers would have been tried in a South Korean court.  USFK keeps jurisdiction for on duty incidents which is a central tenant of all US SOFAs and is one that is included in SOFAs that the Korean military has signed with other countries that ROK Army troops are deployed in.  The 2002 Armored Vehicle Accident is a perfect example of why a SOFA is needed in order to prevent politically motivated mob justice against US servicemembers serving in a foreign country.  The kidnappers of Murphy would later go on to claim that they kidnapped Murphy because they thought the US-ROK SOFA would prevent the police from arresting him.  Even if this was true, this shows how effective the misinformation about the US-ROK SOFA in Korea has been over the years.

The demonstrators that had kidnapped Murphy were from the pro-North Korean group Hanchongryun.  Hanchongryun were some of the most violent protesters duriring the 2008 US beef riots and have a long track record of anti-US and pro-North Korean activity.  This group was actually considered an illegal pro-North Korean collaborator group until Korean President Roh Moo-hyun came to power in 2003 and allowed them operate openly again.  The Hanchongryun members next took Murphy from the stadium to Kyunghee University Hospital where he was forced to apologize to Suh Kyung-won who was sitting in a hospital bed there with a black eye.  Murphy’s time at the hospital was also videotaped.  Here is what Murphy said in the video:

 “I’m sorry. I’m very sorry. I’m very sorry. I’m sorry,” says Pvt. John Murphy to Suh Kyung-won, a former South Korean assemblyman who has accused Murphy of throwing the first punch in a melee that spread from a train car to a sports stadium. Murphy, his palms pressed together and taking cues from a South Korean policeman, tells Suh, “I was swinging. I was not looking … I was scared because everybody was hitting me … I’m very, very sorry.” [Stars & Stripes]

I have seen this video before and clearly Murphy was under duress and even then he clearly states that he was assaulted by the mob first.  After being forcibly brought to the hospital and videotaped Murphy was then released by the mob to Korean police who were actually in the hospital letting the mob use Murphy as a anti-US propaganda prop. Ultimately despite being assaulted, beaten, kidnapped, and forced to make coerced statements, Murphy was charged by the Korean police for assault.

Three USFK servicemembers at the police station after being beaten and abducted by members of the anti-US group Hanchongryun.

After this incident the US embassy and military in South Korea was furious and demanded action by the Korean government against Suh and the Hanchongryun members that were responsible for the beating and kidnapping.  They also demanded that the charges be dropped against Murphy which later they were by the Korean police.  Despite a mob beating and kidnapping of these soldiers, only one person ever received any punishment.  24 year old Yongin University student Koh Min-soo was fined $8,500 and given three years probation for the assault and kidnapping of the US soldiers.  However, the judge presiding over the case said during sentencing that the fight was provoked by Murphy and that Koh was responding to help an older Korean.  This is of course ridiculous when later Korean prosecutors admitted they dropped charges against Murphy because they determined that Suh struck Murphy first and then abducted him. However, defenders of Suh would later say that this was just a cultural misunderstanding:

Reminds me of the subway incident with some USFK soldiers in 2002. In my view the incident was a series of cross-cultural misunderstandings. I’ve met Suh Kyung Won personally on a few occasions and his public behavior over the years does make me believe that he probably touched one of the three US soldiers in one way or another, as he is accused of doing. No responsible public figure wants to be seen with him anymore, and he likes to make a scene and make himself a victim at demonstrations. But a man of his age can physically push a young man around in Korea, or at least do it and not then get a violent response, which appears to be what he got from the soldiers.

Americans think that once someone touches you you are authorized to unleash more than is necessary to merely get out of the situation. Angered by that, the students accompanying Suh dragged one of the soldiers on to the campus of nearby Kyunghee University to make him “apologize.” Well knowing that a US soldier had been taken by Korean students somewhere against his will, the riot police outside the school still chose not to raid the campus and rescue the guy. Like I’m saying, Koreans just don’t think “detaining” someone to make a point is full-fledged kidnapping or hostage taking, and the police, being Korean, knew instinctively that the soldier would be coming back soon enough. It was not worth breaching the unwritten rules of engagement that exists between students and riot police.

I do not think this was a cultural misunderstanding.  Suh and his goons clearly saw an opportunity to provoke an incident when they saw the GIs on the subway.  They took advantage of this opportunity and ultimately got away with assault and kidnapping.  Does anyone think that if the situation was reversed and an elder American man struck a younger Korean and then a mob of GIs pounded on the younger Koreans that people would defend the GIs for this behavior?  Better yet what if the GIs then went and took the younger Koreans as hostages, brought them on to a US military installation and then forced them to make coerced anti-Korean statements to air on the Armed Forces Network?  That is basically what happened and if GIs ever did such a thing it would lead to huge protests and outrage.  Yet when the same thing happens to GIs it is hushed up and quickly forgotten.  Here on the ROK Drop these incidents are not forgotten and hopefully shining a light on these incidents can help other people from becoming provoked into an incident like the one these soldiers unfortunately found themselves in.

Note: You can read more GI Flashbacks articles by clicking on the below link: 

As I was conducting research of old books about Korea I came upon the memoirs of Lieutenant General Arthur Trudeau who in the 1957 was the I Corps Commanding General in South Korea.

While reading through his memoirs about his time in Korea he provides an extensive and very interesting history of how the naming of Camp Red Cloud in Uijongbu came to be:

Did I tell you the story about the naming of Camp Red Cloud? Well, I think this is worth telling.  My compound there, the corps headquarters, had always been called Jackson Six, which was our telephone exchange.  That seemed to me a rather inadequate name.  I told somebody — my G-1, I guess, or PR officer, whoever it was — to start digging and find some people in this corps who got a Congressional Medal of Honor during combat and let’s name our compound here, our headquarters, for the most worthy.  They came up with several names, and they had a couple of lieutenants.  One of them was the Lieutenant Shea that I mentioned, who had just reported to my division and was killed on Pork Chop Hill.  She was sort of a favorite of mine, because he held the two-mile record at West Point, about 30 seconds faster than I had held it 30 years before.  I had a great feeling for Shea and when I went back home had a review and presented the decoration to his mother.  Shea was one of the names, and there were two or three other lieutenants.  I finally looked this list over and spotted the name of Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud.  I thought that was interesting; what did he do. I got the citation, and Mitchell Red Cloud had done about everything a soldier could do; he charged a bunker and knocked off about 20 of the enemy and finally — even after he was badly wounded, tossed a grenade in a bunker before he died.  So what about Mitchell Red Cloud?  Well, Mitchell Red Cloud’s mother was the daughter of a chief of the Winnebago Indian Tribe.  I said, “Now let’s get hold of all the records we can, and we’ll put in and get this camp named Camp Red Cloud.”  I was thinking of the relationship between a native American and a native Asian.  We did this, and I had a brass plaque made.  I put the brass plaque on a tremendous rock on the more or less flat sloping side in front of I Corps (Group) headquarters, where it is today.  We put it in front, right at our flagpole. On Armed Forces Day, 1957, I decided that we had the authority to redesignate and announce it at the Armed Forces Day meeting.

It was a lovely May day; I had all the Diplomatic Corps, President Rhee and his wife, Ambassador Dowling and his wife, General Decker, I believe, or White — all the Americans.  We had about 150 people that were there for the ceremony and then for lunch at my club, which I had built or greatly extended across the street.  They were sitting there.  General Lemnitzer came over; he was always great because my wife had remained in Tokyo, so he brought her over.  She was sitting in the front row of seats next to Mrs. Rhee.  The President was standing there on one side of this curtain.  I was going to say something about Camp Red Cloud, draw the curtain, and expose this plaque, and then the President was to make some remarks.  This all happened; we pulled the cord and it worked, fortunately, and the brass was there, so I read what the brass plaque said.  Then I said, “How wonderful it is that an American, a native American, an Indian whose ancestors lost their country to us, came over here to fight for the freedom of the native men of Asia.”  I went on and built this one up for a little bit, and emphasized that he gave his life for the freedom of Asian people.  I then turned it over to President Lee.  Well, he said excitedly what a great thing this was.  Mrs. Rhee was getting itchier by the moment because she knew that he frequently went of on tangents, and my wife was keeping her calm, saying, “Never mind everything is going to be alright.”

The President launched into this one.  He said, “Yes American Indians are exactly like Asian people.  I think American Indians came from Asia.”  But then he said, “Why is it that all the time you have American movies over here, you show soldiers and cowboys killing American Indians?  Asian people don’t like to see white men killing American Indians.”  The he said, “Never again will a motion picture be shown in Korea that has the American soldiers or cowboys killing American Indians.”  And they never have, but this doesn’t mean that our compound cannot.  There was quite a “to-do,” Mrs. Rhee was so upset.  I said, “This is nothing.  What he said is true, but this happened more than a hundred years ago.”  Of course to them this could be happening today.  The dates aren’t shown frequently, and they think this is still going on out in the West.  It is bad psychology.

Before I left there to come back to the United States at the end of that year, the end of 1957, I wrote back to G-2 and I said, “Listen, you have got to go out and get me tow of the finest pictures, portraits, grand portraits of American Indian chiefs that you can get for me to present to President Rhee.”  Mrs. Trudeau and I were invited there for dinner at Chung Mu Dae, now the Blue House, with President and Mrs. Rhee.  He presented me with another Korean decoration and then I said, “Your Excellency (or Mr. President), I have a presentation I would like to make to you.”  He said, “Certainly.”  So we went into the next room.  The portraits were on the wall.  I had this all planned with his people bringing him in and then we were going to flip the covers back.  I said, “Mr. President, you remember the day we named the I Corps Headquarters Camp Red Cloud for Mitchell Red Cloud, the American Indian who came to fight for your freedom in Asia?”  He said, “Oh, yes, I remember”.  “Well,” I said, “I want to show you, I want to present to you a pair of portraits of other famous American Indians who are high in our esteem in our country also.”  I’ve forgotten which ones they were, but I presented them to him; he thought it was tremendous.  Goddam it, they looked more like him than he did himself, if he had a headdress on.  It was terrific!

This was a very interesting read and I have to wonder what ever happened to those two portraits?  I wonder if they are still on display in Cheongwadae?

Note: You can read more GI Flashbacks articles by clicking on the below link: 

Here is another example of a Dokdo idiot:

A 55-year-old man reportedly consumed poison Friday in an apparent suicide attempt with a note urging the need to “stand up against” Japan’s claim to Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo, police said.

The man, only identified by his surname Choi, was rushed to a nearby hospital after he was found lying unconscious in front of the National Cemetery in southern Seoul around noon after reportedly consuming a bottle of weed killer to take his own life, according to police officials.

A suicide note was found in a notebook inside Choi’s car that was parked in front of the cemetery, which reads, “The Japanese government, which had once colonized this country, is now trying to take away the Dokdo islets from us as well. We must not succumb to their claims but must stand up against them.”

Choi had written several letters in the notebook containing similar contents that were addressed to the president of Korea and members of the National Assembly, and he was also found to have been carrying a flag with the slogan “Dokdo belongs to us (South Korea),” police said.

Family members said Choi was an ordinary citizen who has never joined any activist groups or taken part in such protests, but added that he began telling friends that he was “so angered by Japan” through text messages since last month.  [Korea Times]

10 years ago, the 2002 West Sea Naval Battle, also known as the 2nd Battle of Yeonpyeong took place which at the time was an event that clearly showed the contradictions within South Korean society in regards to their perceptions of North Korea and the United States.  Before getting into the political and social aspects of this battle, first let me recap what happened.

Replica of ROK Chamsuri 357 that fought in the 2nd Battle of Yeonpyeong.

On June 29, 2002, one day before the closing ceremony of the World Cup being held in Korea that year, the North Koreans likely tried to draw attention from away from all the glory South Korea had been receiving from their amazing World Cup performance that year by prevoking a naval battle in the West Sea.  They did this by sending a patrol boat, the Yukto 388 across the disputed Northern Limit Line that demarcates the border between North and South Korea along the Yellow Sea.  The ship crossed near Yeonpyeong Island which is the same island that the North Koreans launched an artillery attack against in 2010 that killed two ROK Marines as well as two civilians.

A South Korean naval vessel the Chamsuri 357 was sent to escort the North Korean ship back into North Korean waters shortly before 10 AM that day.  A 2nd North Korean ship the Tungsangot 684 then crossed the NLL as well.  Both North Koreans ship crossed 3-5 kilometers south of the NLL before being intercepted by the Chamsuri 357.  Since a 2nd North Korean ship was spotted the Chamsuri 358 was dispatched to help as well.   The two South Korean ships intercepted the North Korean ships and issued three warnings by radio to return across the NLL.

That is when the North Korean ship the Tungsangot began to open fire with its 85mm gun at about 450 meters away causing severe damage to the South Korean Chamsuri 357.  In this initial attack five sailors on the Chamsuri 357 were killed to include the captain Lieutenant Yun Yong-ha.  Despite heavy damage the crew of the Chamsuri 357 fired back and the Chamsuri 358 began to open fire as well on the two North Korean ships.  As additional ROK Navy ships began to respond to the attack both North Korean ships retreated back across the NLL where the Tungsangot was seen burning heavily.  The battle was over before 11:00 AM when ROK Naval authorities decided not to pursue the North Korean ships across the NLL in order to avoid escalating the conflict. The clash ultimately ended up costing the lives of six South Korean sailors with 18 more wounded.

It is believed that the North Koreans suffered 13 deaths and 25 wounded, but their two ships were both able to limp back into harbor while the Chamsuri would eventually sink while being towed away from the NLL.  North Korean defectors would later provide details about the aftermath of the battle.  In September of 2002 the gunner of the 85mm gun that made the deadly hit against the Chamsuri 357 was honored by the North Korean authorities as a “Hero of the Republic”.  The North Korean sailor named Seo Ju Cheol was then allowed to visit his hometown where a big celebration was given in his honor.

There was also celebrating in South Korea after the battle as well, but it wasn’t for the sailors that bravely fought off the North Korean provocation.  Instead the country largely ignored the battle in its euphoria of not only hosting a widely successful World Cup, but the fact that the South Korean team reached the tournament’s semi-finals sending nationalism in the country to an all-time high.  In fact the ROK sailors would receive little recognition at all by the South Korean government.  The Kim Dae-jung government at the time wanted to minimize what happened and keep the grieving families quiet because they did not want to upset their Sunshine Policy with North Korea, especially in a presidential election year in the ROK.  Interestingly many of these same ROK politicians were busy encouraging or doing nothing about the anti-Americanism in the aftermath of the US Army Armored Vehicle Accident that tragically killed two South Korean teenagers two weeks before the naval clash.   So basically the Korean government turned a blind eye to the premeditated murder of six ROK sailors while actively encouraging anti-Americanism against their long-time ally because of a tragic traffic accident.

In commemoration of the second anniversary of the West Sea naval battle, memorial services were held at the headquarters of the Navy’s 2nd Fleet in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province on Tuesday. Hwang Eun-tae, father of the late Petty Officer First Class Hwang Do-hyun, weeps while reading a letter in front of his son’s portrait.

Even more heartless was the the fact that the South Korean government sent no flag officers to attend a memorial ceremony or the President even offer any condolences to the families after the attack. USFK however did send representatives to the ceremony and USFK Commander General LaPorte offered the families his condolences.  The memorial service was held on a ROK Navy base in order to minimize media access and prevent anti-North Korean activist groups from attending the memorial. One wife of a deceased sailor was so fed up with how the Korean government treated her, that she left Korea and went to the United States. This is what she said before boarding the plane:

“If the indifference and inhospitality shown to those soldiers who were killed or wounded protecting the nation continue, what soldier will lay down his life in the battlefield?”

Here’s a quote from one of the fathers of one of the murdered sailors that really struck a cord with me:

The father said, “My son is buried in the National Cemetery. But I’m going to take my son’s remains to my family burial site in my hometown.” Having watched the situation develop, he thought his son who was killed by North Korean soldiers was considered nothing more than a criminal.

Some parents said that they are more scared of people who consider the U.S. a bigger enemy than North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who killed their son. We lose courage to defend the country, when we hear that a wife whose husband fell in the battle is preparing to leave this country. Reading a condolence letter from the USFK commander to mark the second anniversary, the wife said, “The Americans remember my husband and his brothers-in-arms better than Koreans… Frankly, I hate Korea.”  [Chosun Ilbo]

“Frankly, I hate Korea”, no those are not the words of a disgruntled American expat or GI saying that, that is a Korean woman who was so outraged by the actions of the Korean government that she left the country.  She is not alone in her criticism of the Korean government over what happened in 2002.

The Chosun Ilbo newspaper published a series of interviews from some of the sailors injured in the 2002 attack and here are excerpts of what they had to say:

Another naval gunner, Kim Taek-jung, 25, has given up his dream of becoming a civil engineer and is preparing for the civil service exam instead. “Because civil engineering requires active work at the site, I’ve made a realistic decision to become a public servant, I still have four or five pieces of shrapnel in my body,” Kim said. “One night I remembered the faces of my six dead comrades, but I couldn’t recall the name of one of them, so I sobbed all night.”

Although they suffer from sleepless nights and nightmares, those without external injuries are not entitled to benefits as “persons of merit.” Ko Kyug-rak, 25, also a naval gunner, said, “For over a year after the incident I was unable to sleep more than three hours a night.” Aboard the patrol boat that turned into a sea of flame, Ko saw his peers burned and their heads blown away and lost some of his hearing. But when he went to a military hospital to claim benefit, Ko was given cool treatment. “A doctor ignored the psychological problems and only asked me to show any external wounds,” he said. “If benefits for persons of merit are granted for this level of injuries, the doctor said, it would have an adverse effect on the state budget.”

Another wounded veteran, Kim Myun-joo, 26, has applied for meritorious benefit twice, but in vain. “I’m just sad because I feel like that post-traumatic stress disorder and efforts to safeguard the country are being neglected,” he said

Of the six victims this paper interviewed, three have office jobs and three are students, all trying hard to make a future for themselves despite the difficulties. What they want from the country is just one thing: that it remembers that many young people were killed or wounded while safeguarding the country on June 29, 2002. “I just wish they remembered the battle once a year, even if they don’t pay much attention. Nothing else,” said Lee Jae-yong, 25.

President Roh did not attend a memorial ceremony for the murdered sailors and the memorial services in later years were attended largely by ROK Navy and USFK leaders. The South Korean ruling party failure to honor these brave sailors was only a further example of the failure of the Sunshine Policy. The South Korean government gave massive amounts of aid to North Korea and they murder South Korean sailors, fire a tactical ballistic missiles, and test nuclear weapons among of host of other provocations. Probably the worst example of North Korean appeasement is how the South Korean political left ignored the plight of hundreds of South Korean citizens that had been abducted by North Korean commandos and agents over the years.  A South Korean wife of one of the abductees had to mount her own personal rescue operation to free her husband from enslavement in North Korea while the South Korean government did nothing to assist her.  So the 2nd Battle of Yeonpyeong was just one of many incidents in a long line of appeasement of North Korea.  In the ensuing years the South Korean government under left wing President Roh Moo-hyun would send North Korea a record of over one billion dollars in aid which is more than they pay to help fund the US-ROK alliance.

Fortunately once President Lee Myung-bak was elected to office he ended the outrage committed against the families of the deceased sailors and began a policy of properly honoring the veterans from West Sea Naval Battle.  In fact a replica of the Chamsuri 357 now sits at the War Memorial in Yongsan where children visit it to learn about the West Sea Naval Battle.

In fact the change in attitude under the Lee Myung-bak government caused the wife of the deceased ROK sailor to return home from the US:

The widow of Petty Officer Han Sang-guk, who was killed in a June 2002 naval battle with North Korea near Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea, will return to her mother country in April three years after her departure to the U.S. Kim Jong-seon left the country in April 2005 due to disappointment that the government ignored those killed in the battle. Kim told the Chosun Ilbo on Monday she is winding up her life in the U.S. and booked a flight leaving for South Korea on April 1.

Kim had said until last year she would not return to South Korea although she missed her family, since the nation seemed to pay inappropriate respect to the young soldiers who sacrificed their lives for it. Now she has changed her mind, motivated by reports that president-elect Lee Myung-bak’s Transition Team and the Defense Ministry decided to upgrade the memorial service for the victims of the West Sea Battle to a state event.   [Chosun Ilbo]

In addition to honoring the sailors killed in the 2nd Batlle of Yeonpyeong, the Lee administration also drastically cut aid to the North Koreans.  The North Koreans would respond by not only launching the artillery attack against Yeonpyeong Island, but also sinking the ROK Naval vessel the Cheonan that resulted in the deaths of 46 ROK sailors.  However, unlike the brave sailors of the 2nd Battle of Yeonpyeong these sailors were not forgotten and continue to be honored by the ROK government for their service to the nation.  Hopefully it never happens again that any ROK servicemember who gives their life for their nation should ever be forgotten and their families treated like criminals by the government they were serving to protect.  Considering all the provocations in recent years along the North Limit Line there will undoubtedly be more ROK servicemembers murdered by the North Korean regime which shows that today there isn’t a bigger DMZ Flashpoint than the Northern Limit Line.

Note: You can read more DMZ Flashpoints articles at the below link:

The South Korean city of Uijongbu has a long history of being host to hundreds of thousands of US Soldiers over the past 60 years.  Out of all the current and past US military bases in the city Camp Stanley has housed more Soldiers than any other:

Where Camp Stanley is located today was originally a truck depot during the Korean War and became a tent city to house troops following the war.  The tent city was eventually named after Colonel Thomas H. Stanley in 1958 who was the commander of the 36th Engineer Regiment during World War II that was killed in a vehicle accident in Italy.  I could not however find the reason why this camp was named after someone killed in World War II.  If anyone knows please leave a comment.   I have seen some of the veteran sites out there that offer old photographs of Korea but Bruce Richards’ site is the best archive of old photographs of USFK facilities I have seen yet. Using Bruce’s picture archives here are a few historic photographs of Camp Stanley:

For those that have been stationed at Camp Stanley before, the above image of tent city is starkly different from what has been built on the camp today. Not only is the camp extremely different but so is the terrain because the mountains in the background look completely deforested compared to the thickly forested slopes of the mountains today.

In this aerial photo from 1955 the rice paddies that still surround the camp to this day can be seen:

This next image from 1961 shows how much development took place in less then 10 years with all the tents replaced with quonset huts and other permanent buildings:

This next image shows a 1964 image of the “ville” adjacent to Camp Stanley:

Needless to say  Camp Stanley has changed a lot over the years and is currently a logistical support base for the 2nd Infantry Division after long being the home to 2-2 Aviation Battalion and the division’s artillery units for many years. Camp Stanley has actually escaped being surrounded by urban sprawl due to the fact that is located right next to a Korean prison and it’s adjacent rice paddies. From Camp Stanley you can sometimes hear the prisoners singing songs and cadence from the prison. You can often see them working in the prison’s rice paddies as well. The picture below is of Camp Stanley as viewed from Surak Mountain that show the rice paddies in front of the camp:

This picture provides another view of Camp Stanley as seen from Cheonbo Mountain in Uijongbu:

The Uijongbu Prison is easily seen due to its distinctive blue roof.  Camp Stanley also has a distinctive tree lined road that leads to its side gate that goes right by the prison.  While driving up the road the prison can easily be seen:

Camp Stanley is the largest base in Uijongbu which due to its size is the only US military installation in Uijongbu that has a true “ville” located adjacent to it appropriately called Stanleyville.  The base is located in the southeastern corner of the city and since it is surrounded by mountains and rice paddies it is unlike other bases 2ID where it has not consumed by the urban sprawl.  There has been talk in the past about closing Camp Stanley, but I think as long as 2ID remains north of Seoul this camp will remain open due to its size and location that is not a burden on the local community.  Here is the north entrance to Camp Stanley from the road leading up to the camp past the prison:

Compared to the earlier 1975 image the gate to the camp has changed a bit over the years.  Right next to this gate is the Nameless Music Cafe:

The other way of accessing the camp is by continuing to drive down Highway 43 to the camp’s main gate.  While driving down the highway there are some really nice views of Suraksan Mountain that can be seen:

Here is the eastern gate into Camp Stanley as seen from Highway 43:

The Highway 43 gate is primarily used for military vehicles to enter the installation from.

Here is a view looking inside of Camp Stanley:

Here is a view of some of the barracks buildings on the camp:

Here is a picture of the old PX building which has been turned into a education center:

Right next to the old PX building is the new building that was opened back in 2005:

The new Camp Stanley PX when it opened was quite nice and I was surprised by how big it was considering the size of the camp plus the fact that other nearby installations were all being closed out back in 2005.  Well the employees at the PX found other people to sell the merchandise to as the Camp Stanley PX would have the distinction of operating one of the largest blackmarketing rings in the country that was finally broken up in 2009.  Here is the view looking to the east from the PX which on a clear day has quite a nice view of the nearby mountains across the valley filled with rice paddies:

Here is the view from the PX looking up the hill towards Surak Mountain where one of the few quonset huts on Camp Stanley is still visible:

Next to the PX is the Community Bank which is still open and serving customers on Camp Stanley:

Near the bank is the post chapel:

Near the church there is also a small theater on the camp:

Across from the PX is the commissary which now has this map posted on it in case somebody some how gets lost on this small post:

This commissary in the past has been recognized as the best small overseas commissary in the US military:

This commissary is actually pretty good because my wife and I found the customer service to be outstanding and the employees very friendly:

For being a small commissary the shelves were stocked with most items Americans would want to buy, but my only gripe like with many other commissaries in Korea is that the blackmarketing was easy to spot:

All in all though by 2ID standards Camp Stanley is pretty nice installation though it is much quieter now compared to past years when it was home to artillery and aviation units.  Likewise Stanleyville has also died down with the exit of all those combat arms soldiers.  There is still enough soldiers here though where Camp Stanley is still home to the only real soldier “ville” in Uijongbu where one can find the typical juicy bars, pawn shops, chicken on a stick shacks, counterfeit clothing stores, coin & plaque shops, and other typical staples of a “ville” in Korea:

The ville also has some apartments for families to live in for those thinking about bringing their families to Korea.  The few that I have seen were pretty rundown and I almost had to have one soldier move out of his apartment until the landlord agreed to fix some safety issues.  For those that have lived in Stanleyville please leave a comment and let everyone know what you thought about your time living there?  Likewise if you have been stationed on Camp Stanley please share your thoughts about the camp in the comments section.

The final picture once again from Bruce Richards site is an aerial picture of what Camp Stanley looks like today:

In the above picture you can see Camp Stanley in the middle of the image while Stanleyville is the area with the blue roofed buildings on the left. The Uijongbu Prison can be seen on the top of the picture. The fields of rice that could be seen in the earlier images, like I said before are still visible today around Camp Stanley and are worked by the prisoners housed at the correctional facility.  I hope everyone enjoyed this profile of Camp Stanley considering it days are supposedly numbered due to impending USFK transformation plan if it ever happens. Due to Korean governmental delay games and US budget issues I wouldn’t be surprised if Camp Stanley is open for another decade or more.

If you have an interesting or funny veteran story from your time in Korea I would love to hear it. If it is a good story I am willing to publish it here on the ROK Drop. It doesn’t matter what decade you served just as long as it is interesting or funny. If you have a story to share you can e-mail the story to me.

Thanks for reading the ROK Drop.

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

• kushibo
  6:08 pm on May 1st, 2012 1

Camp Stanley.

• kushibo
  6:09 pm on May 1st, 2012 2

Oh, wait. This isn’t this week’s “Korea Finder,” is it?

• Flyingsword
  6:11 pm on May 1st, 2012 3

I always liked CP Stanley, like a small town and away from the flag pole. Was there 1991-1994 and again 2002-2004. Worst decision ever made was to move DIVARTY/Fires BDE up to Casey.

• Donald R. Fox
  7:25 am on May 2nd, 2012 4

Friends:
I was stationed at Camp Stanley in the “dark ages” 1959-1960. My unit was the 13th Trans Co (Lt Hel) (H-21C).
It is to me unbelievable how things have changed over the years. In 1959-1960, the area and Korea in general looked as it did…maybe 100 years ago.
God Bless all the Troops that served “over there.” I retired with 36 years service, I will turn 80 on 12 Nov 2012. SGM(Ret) Donald R. Fox

• Melvin S. Faris
  12:46 pm on June 1st, 2012 5

I was at CP Stanley from 1990-1991, during Desert Storm/Desert Shield. At that time, the camp was home to the 2/2 Aviation, an artillery battalion, and several small support units. I was in F Battery, 5/5 ADA. I can remember posting guards at night and hearing people screaming over at the prison. It was pretty weird. I also remember that we didn’t call the town next to the camp “Stanleyville”- we just called it The Ville or “downrange.” The locals called it Kosan-dong or something like that. CP Stanley was a pretty nice place to be considering that many soldiers in the 2nd ID were at camps on the DMZ. For instance, my battalion HQ was at Camp Stanton, which was way up near Munsan.

• Randy S. Ramsey
  4:55 am on June 5th, 2012 6

I was stationed with 2ndMPco in 82, i lived in a quanset hut there were holes in the walls but we sort of loved it, it was a busy place for us! especially down in the vill (Kosong-Dong) when i first got there the MP could only check clubs if there Korean National Police officer escort said yes, we would say “we checkie checkie” they would say no, than with a lot of help from the Post Commander i got it changed so the MP’s could check clubs on our own, thats when we started getting busy, got some great memories of that place, BEST KATUSA’s i ever worked with!

• William
  9:03 pm on July 10th, 2012 7

Been at Stanley a few years. Small post, not very many units there now as in previous years. Lots of hills to give cigarette smoking soldiers opportunities to act like they are about to die fall out of runs in the first 1/4-1/2 mile. Very difficult to get to after 7-8 AM with traffic. Long way away from the subway line 1. You have to walk way down hill, take a bus to get within 1/4 mile of the Uijeongbu station, + the walk all the way in. This delays your trip to Seoul considerably. It is actuall faster to take a city bus south, change to a bus crossing the south side of Soo-Rak mountain to get to another line. Next to no one goes to the “Ville” in the evenings. many Soldiers prefer to party in Seoul with the increase in mobility and the ability to saty in a motel instead of having to return to barracks by midnight. If USFK re-instates that policy, then USFK will really see madness happen in hte ville again. As it is now, teh clubs prolly don’t make enough money to pay for electricity. Only 2 clubs ding enough business to stay in business, especially the club where all the MPs used to hangout.

• james kelley
  12:59 pm on July 22nd, 2012 8

i was stationed at campstanley also known as camp hummingbird from 1963 thru 1964 with the 13th trans. would like to have a good picture of the 13th trans emblem of lucifer the cat on the fourleaf clover. you may e-mail me at kelljim1@aol.com.
thanks

• Gerald Johnson
  11:53 am on August 29th, 2013 9

I was stationed with the 1/15 battery A, in 1971-72. Looking at these photo’s it sure has changed. God Bless all the troops.

• Gerald Johnson
  11:56 am on August 29th, 2013 10

I was stationed at Stanley from 1971-9-1972, A Battery. It sure has changed looking at the photo’s. God Bless all the troops.

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