Tag: Uijongbu

Here is the latest from the Stars & Stripes on the closing of Camp Red Cloud:

The Indianhead Division officially moved its headquarters to Camp Humphreys, some 40 miles south of Seoul, last week, becoming the last major command to do so, after the Eighth Army and U.S. Forces Korea. The grand opening of its new headquarters building, which will also be called Freeman Hall, is scheduled for next month.

Camp Red Cloud is on the northwestern edge of Uijeongbu, which was home to the real-life unit that inspired the popular TV show “M.A.S.H.” The base was originally known as Camp Jackson but was renamed in 1957 in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Cpl. Mitchell Red Cloud Jr.

But the shuttering of facilities is only the start of a lengthy transition process, including the capping of utilities and fuel tanks, negotiations over environmental cleanup requirements and other issues related to the status of forces agreement between the two countries.

“It’s estimated that the earliest that CRC will be able to be returned to the [South Korean government] is sometime in January/February 2020 if all of that process goes through and there are no issues,” said Paul Hubbard, the garrison’s lead base-closure analyst.

Hubbard said it has taken between three and 15 years to hand over other bases that have been closed due to disagreements over obligations for environmental cleanup and other issues.

The land will be turned over to the Defense Ministry, but city officials say they’re hoping it will be developed as a security-themed park.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but I seriously doubt that Camp Red Cloud will be handed over by 2020 because I really think the anti-US left in South Korea will claim all kinds of environmental pollution like they have done in the past to delay closing vacated US bases and try to get more money out of USFK.  However, their biggest goal this time will be to cause antagonism in the US-ROK alliance.

Here are a couple of prior articles I wrote about Camp Red Cloud that I recommend everyone read if you haven’t already:

https://www.rokdrop.net/2005/05/profile-camp-red-cloud-south-korea/

https://www.rokdrop.net/2012/10/the-true-story-of-how-camp-red-cloud-south-korea-got-its-name/

This seems like a long time after the fact to be complaining to the ROK Defense Ministry to clean up soil pollution:

The city government of Uijeongbu, north of Seoul, has demanded the defense ministry conduct an examination into soil contamination at a former U.S. military base site in the city, officials said Tuesday.

The Uijeongbu city government bought the former Camp Sears site from the defense ministry in 2012 after the land was returned to the ministry in 2007 under a base consolidation and relocation plan, known as the Land Partnership Program (LPP).

Nine oil tanks had existed on the base to supply oil to other American bases north of Seoul. When the site was returned, most of the land was contaminated, with total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) levels up to 73 times the maximum permissible levels.

The ministry commissioned the Korea Environment Corporation to clean up the site from 2009 and 2012 before the Uijeongbu city government purchased the land as part of a project to establish an administrative complex housing public and government agencies.

Last month, the city broke ground at the site to build a fire department headquarters.

But the construction was halted recently as oil residue was found at the site. Tests were conducted on samples taken from four locations at the site, and two of them had TPH levels of 836 mg per kilogram and 585 mg/kg, which is higher than the permissible 500 mg/kg, officials said.  [Korea Times]

You can read the rest at the link, but the ROK Defense Ministry wants tests to be done to prove the pollution is from military activity and not from someone dumping it there after the handover.  Camp Sears was closed all the way back in 2005 and it was no secret that fuel tanks were on the base.  Here is a 2011 picture of the fuel tanks from after the closure of Camp Sears:

You would think that the city would have done a thorough inspection for pollution around the old fuel tanks.  On the old site of Camp Sears a number of government offices were built after its closure and maybe the ROK Defense Ministry is concerned that construction companies were dumping waste on that side of the camp?

It looks like some of the silent majority in South Korea have decided to stand up to the currently empowered leftists trying to create a wedge in the US-ROK alliance:

Dozens of South Koreans waved American flags and signs with slogans like “Deploy THAAD immediately” and “Strong ROK-US alliance” during a rally Monday to support the 2nd Infantry Division after several musicians boycotted a recent concert celebrating its centennial.

The municipal government in Uijeongbu organized the June 10 concert at a sports complex in the city, which has long been home to 2ID headquarters at Camp Red Cloud. But several South Korean K-pop bands and other musicians who had been expected to perform either did not show up or declined to play their songs.

The group organizing Monday’s rally, which was held on the sidewalk in front of the U.S. Army garrison, produced a letter addressed to the division’s commander, Maj. Gen. Theodore Martin.

“We, Patriotic Koreans want to deliver our deepest apology about the disruption of the Centennial concert,” the letter read. “We also want to express our sincere appreciation for you and your soldiers’ dedication for the security of the Republic of Korea.”  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but the boycott had to be highly embarrassing to the Uijongbu mayor Ahn Byung-yong who was sitting next to USFK Commander General Vincent Brooks when the cancellations happened.  According to the article the mayor is blaming pro-North Korean leftists and media for causing the cancellation.

This bankruptcy of the light rail in Uijongbu is completely unsurprising because of how unnecessary it was.  It is very easy to get around Uijongbu via the bus system that made the light rail a redundant form of transportation that would never meet the expected daily usage rate that was projected.  According to the article the U-Line needs 118,000 people a day to ride it to break even and last year they only had 35,000 a day:

The Uijeongbu Light Rail Transit Company filed bankruptcy to the Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday after just four and a half years, as the light rail failed to draw enough commuters and was insolvent for years.

The board members of the light rail company unanimously agreed on Wednesday to file for bankruptcy after its debt rose beyond 240 billion won ($200 million) at the end of last year.

The light rail trains, smaller in size and shorter than subway trains, run on the Uijeongbu Line, or U Line, in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi. The railway stretches 11.1 kilometers (6.9 miles) from Balgok Station to Tapseok Station. The light rail opened on July 1, 2012, and was expected to draw nearly 80,000 commuters a day in its first year, according to figures obtained by the company from a consulting agency.

Only a daily average of about 10,000 used the light rail on its first year, and by the end of last year, the daily reached some 35,000. To break even, the business needed about 118,000 people daily.

“The company needs to make 45 billion won a year to operate the railway, but it’s scraping in only 15 billion won a year on average,” said an employee of the company.

Five financial institutes, including KB Kookmin Bank, lent some 352 billion won as operating funds to the Uijeongbu Light Rail Transit Company. The group sent an official letter to the company on Jan. 2, requesting that it shut down the business.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but the Uijongbu city government is vowing to keep the light rail running which means the public will be picking up the annual operating losses.

It is good that the police have arrested the man who murdered a Uijongbu woman on a mountain outside the city:

The suspect in the murder on Mount Sapae in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi, changed his story and admitted he initially tried to rape the victim.

Uijeongbu police announced on Tuesday that they found problems with the suspected culprit’s denial of rape in the initial questioning.

“While conducting analysis at the crime scene and reconstructing the crime, we found some contradictions with the culprit’s testimony,” an official in charge said. “We then used a lie detector to find out that he actually had attempted to rape the victim before killing and robbing her.”

The suspected culprit, surnamed Jeong, confessed to having initially denied raping the victim in order to avoid heavier punishment. The 45-year-old turned himself in on Friday after strangling a 55-year-old woman to death and robbing her of cash on Mount Sapae on June 7. The body of the woman was found on Thursday morning by hikers.

According to police, Jeong brought a bottle of soju to the mountain in misery after finding out he only had 14,000 won ($11.87) left in his pocket. While roaming the mountain drunk, he allegedly spotted the victim sitting on a bench by herself and approached her from behind with the intention of raping her. Police say that after strangling her with his left arm and punching her in the head twice, he undressed her from the waist up and pulled down her pants, but when he realized the victim was dead he ran away with her wallet, which contained 15,000 won and a credit card.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

It seems the police probably should have caught this woman sooner, but fortunately now she has been arrested:

A 44-year-old woman has been detained by police for questioning over whether she fatally poisoned her ex-husband, current husband and mother-in-law from 2011 to 2013.

The suspected black widow living in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi, is also alleged to have fed her own daughter a non-lethal dose of poison to make her sick and get insurance money.

“We believe she killed the victims because of conflicts or to earn death benefits,” said a police officer at the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency on Tuesday. “The investigation was launched after insurance companies tipped off the police that her family members died and she received huge sums in insurance.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

The cause of an apartment fire that killed three and injured dozens more in Uijongbu is being blamed on something as stupid as this:

An arrest warrant has been requested for a 53-year-old man who allegedly caused a massive fire at an apartment building in a Seoul suburb that killed four people and injured scores of others, police said Tuesday.

The man, identified only by his surname Kim, faces charges of manslaughter, assault without intent and causing a fire without intent, the Uijeongbu Police Station in this city just north of Seoul said.

Police believe the fire at the 10-story Daebong Green Apartment on Jan. 10 started when Kim held a flame up to the ignition of his motorcycle parked outside the apartment. He reportedly did this to take out the key that had frozen inside the ignition.

What Kim did not notice, however, was that he was also melting the sheaths of the ignition line, which created a spark and quickly developed into an inferno that injured 126 people, police said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but yet another major disaster caused by a lack of public safety awareness.

Shown is a blueprint for YG Entertainment’s K-pop Cluster to be built on 49,600 square meters of land in Uijeongbu City, Gyeonggi Province. The blueprint was released on Jan. 15, 2015. (Yonhap)

This is a horrible apartment fire that happened in Uijongbu:

UIJEONGBU, South Korea, Jan. 10 (Yonhap) — A big fire that broke out Saturday morning at a 10-story apartment building in Uijeongbu, north of Seoul, leaving three dead and 101 people injured, has been brought under control, the police said.

Among the injured who were taken to the hospital, five were in critical condition, they said.

The fire is reported to have erupted at 9:25 a.m. from a car parked on the ground floor of the building, preventing residents from evacuating through the front entrance.

The fire was put under control at about 11:40 a.m. after spreading to two other buildings.

The police and firefighters are now focusing on finding the cause of the fire, saying they are investigating the possibility of arson but are open to all possibilities.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the 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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