U.S. military in S. Korea extends curfew

Xinhauanet ^ | January 3rd 2012 | Editor-Yamei Wang

[Cardhu]

EOUL, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military in South Korea said Tuesday that it will extend a curfew for service members in the country indefinitely in an attempt to ensure continued mission readiness.

"We must remain focused on our primary mission here, which is to deter against external aggression and if required, defend the Republic of Korea side-by-side with our ROK counterparts," U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. James Thurman said in a statement.

"I anticipate and expect that our service members will continue to maintain the highest standards of individual readiness and professionalism while they serve in the Republic of Korea," said Thurman.

The new curfew, which runs from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. seven days a week, will be in place from Jan. 7 and will continue "until further notice," according to the statement.

A 30-day curfew was initiated on Oct. 7 last year after allegations of two rape cases involving U.S. soldiers surfaced.

It was extended in November and was set to expire on Jan. 6.

Some 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.

[Cardhu]

A South Korea-based US soldier is sentenced to a 10-year prison term for
raping a Korean teenager.

[gaijin]

I have a permanent solution: Simply BRING THEM HOME, yup.

Twin-Towers mockery built, as Animal Torturer is crowned...?

Sorry, ROK, time for us to leave...

[napscoordinator]

The new curfew, which runs from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. seven days a week, will be in place from Jan. 7 and will continue “until further notice,”

Wow. When I was there that was the curfew except on Weekdays we had to be back in by 0001. If there was a thread like what they are having right now, we would have to be back at 2000 every night. Please don’t say that this curfew is bad. It is better than it used to be.

[lacrew]

When I was in Korea, I realized that the North Koreans would have the best chance of success, if they attacked late on a Saturday night.

We even had an alert one Sunday morning...and people complained! And yes, I was hung over.

[AmericanInTokyo]

South Koreans themselves under Presidents Park Chung Hee and Chun Doo Hwan had a curfew of Midnight. They could not be out on the street or risk being shot and asked questions later. One either hurried home, or ended up sleeping in a hotel lobby after leaving the disco there, or did not venture out from home late at all in the first place.

Here the old back-in-the-day joke about the ROK police who drew his weapon, and shot down a Korean citizen at about 11:50 p.m. on the street who was hurrying, and his partner said, "why the hell did you do that?". The partner's response: "He would have never made it off the streets in time."

[AmericanInTokyo]

Did they ever teach them in boot about a place called “Pearl Harbor”? The clever “Imperial Japs” (I say that only referencing the pre-democratic/pre-liberation facscists at that time in Japan), certainly knew about Americans and their Sunday Mornings.

[JimVT]

The Republic of Korea Army (ROK Army, ROKA, Korean: 대한민국 육군, Hanja: 大韓民國 陸軍, Revised Romanization: Daehanminguk Yuk-gun) is the largest of the military branches of the South Korean armed forces with 520,000 members as of 2010. This size is maintained through conscription; South Korean men must complete 21 months of military service between graduation of high school and the age of 35. SO WHAT THE HELL ARE WE DOING THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?

[napscoordinator]

lol. That is a very good one. I enjoyed that. Very funny.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Like it or not, unless otherwise abrogated, bound by the UN Ceasefire Agreement of 1953 of which we are a prime signatory, participant and co-manager of the Armistace. Abrogate that and we can leave, yes. But not before.

[lacrew]

Quite frankly a first strike by the NK would kill a quarter of the US troops there, curfew or no curfew. Lots of rockets, and troops stuffed together in tight quarters. Come to think of it, the best chance of surviving a first strike is to be ‘down range’ at the bars. One good thing that Rumsfeld did is quietly pull out a third of the personnel in Korea. Less cannon fodder.

[AmericanInTokyo]

I agree that repositioning southward way from DMZ/Norkies down towards Pyongtaek and away from places like Uijongbu/Dongduchon and Yongsan are helpful.

[Citizen Tom Paine]

I think US troops are being used as a tripwire. The US troops in Germany however,,,,,

[DJ MacWoW]

Did You Know?

The Current FReepathon Pays For The Current Quarters Expenses?

Now That You Do, Donate And Keep FR Running

[JerseyanExile]

Not to mention another three and a half million men in their reserves. A few thousand US ground troops would have basically no impact if war broke out. The only reasons they are there are political in nature. The entire point is to deliberately put them in the line of fire in case a war starts so that South Korea knows that we’ll stick with them, and can’t back out of our obligations if the North attacks. A lot of our allies have trust issues, seeing how we have a long history of sacrificing our allies on the alter of political expediency.