The THAAD has been in South Korea now for five years and still the environmental assessment has not been completed and protesters continue to block the road. This clearly has little to do with the environment and everything to do with politics. It will be interesting to see if the Korean left tries to mobilize around the THAAD issue and launch Braveheart style attacks against ROK police if and when they try and remove the protesters like they did at Camp Humphreys years ago:
South Korea will expeditiously push for the “normalization” of a U.S. THAAD missile defense unit here, Seoul’s defense minister said Monday, as it has been in the status of “temporary installation” due to an environmental assessment and other reasons.
Lee Jong-sup made the remarks as Seoul and Washington are striving to sharpen joint deterrence against Pyongyang amid growing concerns about possibilities of the regime’s additional provocations, like a long-range ballistic missile or nuclear test.
“The normalization of the THAAD unit should have been done (earlier),” Lee said in a meeting with reporters. “We will push for it (to materialize) at an early date.”
Yonhap
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.
It appears General LaCamera sees a chance with the change in government to hopefully open access to the THAAD site near Seongju:
U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Paul LaCamera has called for “unfettered” access to its THAAD missile defense unit here, stressing its absence would undermine the alliance’s ability to defend South Korea.
In a written statement to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense this week, LaCamera made the call, as access to the unit in the southern county of Seongju remains impeded by a set of obstacles, including protesters against the installation of the battery.
Since the unit was placed in Seongju in 2017, it has had the status of a “temporary installation” pending South Korea’s environmental impact assessment — another hindrance to its full-capacity operation.
“Despite significant progress in increasing access to the site over the last year, unfettered access is required to fully ensure logistical support at the site and improve the quality of life for service members stationed there,” LaCamera said.
“Limited access also slows the pace of construction projects on-site, which is critical for maintaining the system’s capabilities, crew training and upgrades. All of this hinders the alliance’s ability to operate this defensive system and defend the ROK people,” he added. ROK stands for the South’s official name, Republic of Korea.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
USFK has brought some more fire power to the peninsula:
The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) has held a ceremony launching a permanently stationed air cavalry squadron consisting of new Apache attack helicopters in a key U.S. base south of Seoul, its officials said Wednesday.
The 5th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade was activated in the event at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on Tuesday. It takes over from previous rotational aviation units.
The new unit is known to have dozens of the latest AH-64E Version 6 helicopters. In January, the U.S. Army said 24 of the latest Apache helicopters would be deployed here by February in the first overseas delivery of the new version of the aircraft.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
There are still a few areas where masks are required like the CDC and medical facilities, but for most areas on post masks are not required as of this week:
The U.S. military in South Korea dropped its mask mandate Monday on its installations as cases of COVID-19 continue to decline throughout the country.
Masks are no longer required on any U.S. installation or facility, although individual commanders may mandate them in high-traffic indoor areas, such as gyms, commissaries, libraries and similar facilities, according to an announcement by U.S. Forces Korea on its website.
USFK personnel are advised to consult their garrisons for exceptions to the updated policy.
Anyone affiliated with the U.S. military must still wear a mask while outside U.S. installations. South Korea requires people to wear face masks while outdoors and indoors in public.
Defense Department schools on U.S. bases in South Korea are also doing away with the mask requirement starting Wednesday, although students may choose to wear masks at school or on school buses, according to memos from individual school principals.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
Starting today USFK personnel who are vaccinated will be able to party in the villes again:
The U.S. military command in South Korea will lower its health protection condition in time for its population to sample a wider variety of off-base activities this weekend.
U.S. Forces Korea will move from Bravo-plus to Bravo at 6 a.m. Thursday, the command announced Wednesday in a news release. The change will allow those who are fully vaccinated to visit bars, clubs, adults-only establishments, saunas and karaoke bars.
A person is considered fully vaccinated 14 days after completing a vaccination series approved by the Food and Drug Administration, according to USFK.
Masks are still required of everyone in South Korea, indoors and outdoors; USFK requires masks indoors but not outdoors on U.S. military installations.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
It took nine years to complete the construction of the command center. Just think South Korea has built entire neighborhoods faster than this command center:
The construction of a new command center for the combined forces of South Korea and the United States has been completed in a major American military base south of Seoul, a U.S. Army website showed Tuesday.
South Korean and U.S. officials commemorated the completion of Command Center Humphreys in Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on Thursday last week, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
The new center is designed to support the operations of the allies’ Combined Forces Command (CFC) and the U.S. Forces Korea. Its construction was a key part of the allies’ plan to relocate the U.S. garrison in Seoul’s central district of Yongsan to Camp Humphreys, according to the USACE.
“This project was a nine-year construction effort, and we finally get to see the successful completion of it,” Robert Zhang, a U.S. official involved in the project, was quoted by the USACE as saying.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Here is some increased messaging of unity within the US-ROK alliance:
Top South Korean and U.S. military officers on Thursday boarded a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier sailing in the East Sea, sources said, in a rare move to highlight the allies’ unity amid concerns about possible North Korean provocations.
Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Won In-choul and Gen. Paul LaCamera, the head of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, met aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier that arrived in the waters earlier this week in a show of America’s military might.
Their symbolic meeting came amid speculation that the North could engage in provocative acts, like another intercontinental ballistic missile launch or a nuclear test, in time for its key political events, including the 110th birthday of its late national founder Kim Il-sung on Friday.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
