Tag: ROK Army

In recent years the mass shootings perpetuated by ROK Army personnel on their fellow soldiers has been widely documented to include the latest case where a soldier killed 5 of his comrades.  The prosecutor is asking for the death penalty in that case.  The killers usually blame bullying for the mass shootings.  This has caused the ROK Army to do a lot of introspection in regards to the culture of bullying in the ranks. The recent media attention on mass shootings makes it appear as if this is something new.  However, as I was browsing through the digital archives of the Stars & Stripes newspaper I noticed this article from June 3, 1968 that shows that mass shootings perpetuated by ROK Army soldiers is not something new:

This case is worse than the recent ROK Army cases because he attacked a crowded movie theater which killed 5 people and wounded 43.  Then what is up with this guy’s girlfriend wanting to marry him before being executed?  Especially when she was dating another man?

Anyway what I found most interesting about this was that all the way back in 1968 the ROK Army was talking about routine mental testing of recruits.  The ROK Army is making the same efforts today though one former ROK Army soldier in his opinion says the tests are a joke.  I think what this shows that is unfortunately hard to quantify too crazy to serve in the military with a test until people actually do something crazy.  That was true back in 1968 and still true today.

A soldier is checked for a fever at the Army’s Special Warfare Command in Seoul on June 16, 2015, before he participates in a field training exercise, as a precaution against the spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). As of that day, South Korea had confirmed four additional cases of the viral respiratory illness with three more deaths, bringing the total number of cases to 154 with 19 deaths. (Yonhap)

A South Korean Army chaplain offers a prayer to an injured solider as he takes part in a field training exercise for South Korean and U.S. military chaplains at the Army’s Special Warfare Command in Seoul on June 16, 2015. (Yonhap)

A South Korean soldier wears a military uniform with a patch of his unit during a ceremony at Camp Red Cloud in Uijeongbu, just north of Seoul, on June 3, 2015, to mark the formation of a landmark South Korean-U.S. combined division. The division will consist of a brigade from the South Korean Army and the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division, with each entity to carry out normal duties in its assigned area during peacetime. (Yonhap)

Gen. Kim Hyun-jip (R), the commander of the South Korean Army’s 3rd field battle forces, shakes hands with Maj. Gen. Theodore Martin, the commander of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division, during a ceremony at Camp Red Cloud in Uijeongbu, just north of Seoul, on June 3, 2015, to mark the formation of a landmark South Korean-U.S. combined division. The division will consist of a brigade from the South Korean Army and the U.S. 2nd Infantry, with each entity to carry out normal duties in its assigned area during peacetime. (Yonhap)

South Korean actor Song Joong-ki salutes reporters and fans near a military unit in Goseong on South Korea’s east coast on May 26, 2015, as he is discharged from the Army after spending 21 months in military service. (Yonhap)

This type of blue on blue shooting is unfortunately becoming a somewhat annual occurrence in the ROK Army:

Two died and three injured in what is believed to be a shooting spree at around 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday during a reserve forces training session at a military base located in Seocho District, southeastern Seoul.

The suspect, one of reserve forces trainees, is known to have killed himself with the weapon after the incident, according to the Army.

“During a zeroing fire session, a trainee fired a rifle at fellow soldiers which killed one and injured four others,” said an Army officer after the shooting spree. “Death toll may rise as well.”

The injured are being evacuated to the Armed Forces Capital Hospital. Two of the injured were in critical condition and one of them died after the Army’s announcement.

The Army is still on an internal investigation.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

The 2nd Infantry Division is moving forward with its combined division concept with the ROK Army:

It’s a little cramped these days in the office that South Korean Lt. Col. Gil Kwon shares with his deputy, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Cole.

But they are learning more about each other every day as the two countries’ militaries try to bridge cultural gaps and prepare for a major reorganization that will shift south most U.S. forces from bases north of Seoul to an expanded megabase at Camp Humphreys.

What’s left will be a combined U.S.-South Korean unit prepared to defend the peninsula if war were to break out with North Korea.

The transformation involves adding South Korean troops and units, including 31 staff officers and an entire infantry brigade; replacing the Camp Hovey-based 1st “Iron” Brigade Combat Team with U.S.-based rotational brigades on nine-month deployments, and moving the bulk of the division to Camp Humphreys.

South Korean and U.S. officers started sharing offices inside 2nd Infantry Division headquarters on Camp Red Cloud in January as part of the transformation. In January, the division received a complement of 31 Korean officers with ranks ranging from major up to a brigadier general who is now deputy 2nd ID commander, said Maj. Gen. Thomas Vandal, who turned over command of the division to Maj. Gen. Theodore Martin last week. Vandal spent the past two years preparing for the changeover.

The South Korean officers speak English and have experience at U.S. and British military schools. Each is paired with a U.S. counterpart with one serving as the other’s deputy, he said.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link, but 1st Brigade on Camp Hovey will deactivate this summer and be replaced by rotational units coming to Korea from the US for 9 months at a time.  The rotational units will train with the 16th ROK Brigade.

A light utility helicopter, the Surion, takes off in the city of Yongin, south of Seoul, on May 1, 2015, as the Army conducts a drill to evacuate emergency patients to its main hospital in the adjoining city of Seongnam. The drill was timed with the launch the same day of the aviation command for the operations, with six of the choppers to be deployed. (Yonhap)

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Choi Yoon-hee (L, front), accompanied by Thomas S. Vandal (R, front), head of the 2nd Infantry Division of U.S. Forces Korea, tours the division in the city of Dongducheon, north of Seoul, on April 20, 2015, in this photo released by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (Yonhap)