Tag: USFK

If USFK servicemembers are any indication South Korea may still have a few weeks before they enter into a decline in COVID cases:

South Korea reached a new pandemic high of 20,270 coronavirus cases on Tuesday as the nation wrapped up the Lunar New Year holiday, three days typically marked by widespread travel on the peninsula.

Tuesday’s count was 1,928 cases higher than the previous record of 18,342 infections logged the day before, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Center. Over 6,000 cases were reported in Gyeonggi province, where Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. military base overseas, is located.

Meanwhile, U.S. Forces Korea reported 196 new COVID-19 cases for the week ending Monday, its third consecutive week of declining numbers. USFK confirmed 379 new infections the previous week and a pandemic high of 1,599 between Jan. 4 and 10.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but in Japan USFJ servicemembers are experiencing the same trend of lowering cases while Japan’s daily COVID case rate surged to over 142,000.

It looks like it is going to be a tough few weeks for U.S. troops in South Korea as they face nearly a soft lockdown on their off post activities:

 U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Saturday it has decided to toughen social distancing rules for its service members amid the growing number of infections among its troops.

The USFK had confirmed a weekly record high of 682 additional COVID-19 cases among its personnel from Dec. 28 to Tuesday. It did not offer more details, including the number of breakthrough cases or locations of the infected members.

“Due to the continued presence of COVID-19 within United States Forces Korea and South Korea, USFK has increased its health protection condition to ‘Bravo Plus’ peninsula-wide effective today at 12 p.m. until further notice,” the USFK said in a statement.

Under the scheme, the U.S. military will prohibit all personnel from visiting off-base facilities, such as indoor malls and gyms.

Access to bars and saunas will also be banned, though the USFK had previously banned such activities for non-vaccinated personnel only.

Seated dining at restaurants outside the base will also be restricted.

The USFK added it will prohibit its personnel from traveling to Seoul except for official duties or those who live there.

The total number of COVID-19 cases reported among the USFK-affiliated population totaled 3,027 as of Tuesday. The USFK said nearly 90 percent of its affiliated community is vaccinated.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I have said for years that China would not just be a bystander during any conflict on the Korean peninsula and retired USFK General Robert Abrams believes in this viewpoint now as well:

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense on Monday pushed back against remarks by a former commander of U.S. Forces Korea who said wartime plans against North Korea must account for China’s militaristic influence in the region.

North Korea’s weapons testing demonstrates that it persists as a threat, but the Chinese military also has “to be accounted for in the war plan,” retired Gen. Robert Abrams, who led USFK and U.N. Command until July, said on Voice of America on Saturday.

“It’s not a secret that they have increased their presence in and around the Korean Peninsula since 2010,” Abrams said, referring to China’s military.

“These are indications of things that have to be accounted for in the war plan that the current [guidance] does not contain,” he said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

My guess is that Congress is giving the Pentagon flexibility on how to manage troop levels in the Indo-Pacific region without having to focus on maintaining the 28,500 troop level number in South Korea:

The U.S. Congress passed its annual defense budget bill Wednesday with no ban on the reduction of U.S. Forces in Korea, a clause that had been included in the bill for the past four years.  
   
Every year, the U.S. Congress passes the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to determine the funding for military activities under the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy.  
   
The bill was passed by Congress on Wednesday to authorize a total of $777.7 billion in spending for the 2022 fiscal year, namely on strategic competition with China and Russia and on disruptive technologies like hypersonic weapons and artificial intelligence, amongst other U.S. defense priorities.   
   
Missing this year, however, was a clause legally restricting the U.S. government from reducing the number of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) from its current level of around 28,500. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

These two actually got off light in the Korean court system by not having to go to jail. However, they are probably being chaptered out of the Army with a possible bad conduct discharge:

Two American soldiers have been given suspended prison terms for smuggling cannabis into South Korea from the United States, a court said Monday.

One of the soldiers was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison, suspended for 3 years, for hiding two cannabis cartridges in his baggage and flying to Incheon International Airport from Atlanta in April, the Suwon District Court said.

The other soldier received the same sentence for purchasing four cannabis cartridges and other cannabis products from an overseas website and attempting to smuggle them through an international flight in March.

The soldier was found to have again placed the same order for the drugs the following month after his first attempt was caught by customs authorities here.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but how much of a pothead are you that you get caught once and yet you try to order your marijuana again?

Apparently the homes on Yongsan Garrison that were handed back to the Korean government are now a popular location for the Korean public to go and take pictures at:

These brick townhouses were once home to American officers and their families, but South Korea has gained control of this tract of land on the southeastern tip of the Army’s Yongsan Garrison, nearly two decades after the U.S. and Korea set in motion a plan to relocate the bulk of America’s troops in the country to a location south of Seoul and return the property to the government. 

The village, which consists of 18 buildings, is now open to the public, and it is crowded with people who came to get a glimpse of the inside of the garrison and to snap selfies against the backdrop of American-style, two- and three-story townhouses.

Korea Times

Though cases are dropping nationally in South Korea there has been a slight uptick in cases in Seoul which has led to this decision:

U.S. Forces Korea put four districts in Seoul and three in adjacent Gyeonggi province off-limits following a rise in COVID-19 cases there, according to an announcement Wednesday.

Only mission-essential visits are permitted to the Jongno, Yeongdeungpo, Guro and Geumcheon districts in Seoul and the Gwacheon, Dongducheon and Ansan districts in Gyeonggi, according to USFK’s weekly travel restrictions update. The command placed 10 districts off-limits Wednesday.

The Jongno district includes the U.S. Embassy, Seoul City Hall and the presidential Blue House. Camp Humphreys, the headquarters for USFK and the U.N. Command, and Osan Air Base are in Gyeonggi province.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It looks quite a storm system hit Pyeongtaek:

 Several Army helicopters were damaged in a storm that battered this U.S. base 40 miles south of Seoul on Friday evening, according to the 2nd Infantry Division.

The division declined to provide specifics on the damage, citing operational security policies, but the command was “conducting maintenance checks across the fleet,” according to a statement to Stars and Stripes on Monday.

The helicopters were not in the air during the storm and no injuries were reported, Lt. Col. Ryan Donald, the division’s public affairs director, said Saturday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.