Here is a perfect example of bringing the ville mentality to real Korea:
The manager of a popular South Korean beach festival said Tuesday that drunken and rowdy U.S. troops are such a problem that organizers have considered banning servicemembers from the event.
Lee Won-ku, manager for the Boryeong Mud Festival, said the number of U.S. troops at the festival has jumped dramatically in the past two years. So has the number of fights and the amount of trash, he said.
“Most soldiers drink like deadbeats all day and night on the beach, and leave mountains of garbage the following morning,” he said.
“The spots where they play … are a complete mess. After they leave, we wonder, was this a spot where beasts or humans were playing?” he asked.
Lee said it’s easy to identify U.S. troops because of their short haircuts. But because it would be difficult to prove which festival-goers are in the military, organizers decided not to ban troops from the event. [Stars & Stripes]
This rowdiness cannot be blamed on 2ID either:
Lee’s comments come after an airman from Kunsan Air Base was detained by police Saturday after he got drunk, tried to steal a car and beat up two South Koreans, a South Korean police spokesman said.
The airman was heavily intoxicated when he tried to pull a 43-year-old South Korean driver out of his car at about 8:20 p.m. at a public parking lot at Daechon Beach, where the festival was held, the spokesman said.
The airman then tried to beat a 25-year-old male passenger. The two South Koreans, who sustained minor abrasions and scratches, were able to control him and turned him over to local police, according to the spokesman.
The airman told police that he couldn’t remember what happened because he was drunk, the spokesman said. No charges have been filed yet, but police said the airman will be questioned again this week. [Stars & Stripes]
It is hard to draw any conclusions without knowing how many USFK servicemembers were involved in the rowdiness. Was it just a group of 10 people or were there hundreds involved? If there are only 10 people being rowdy and hundreds minding their own business it seems like banning all servicemembers is a bit extreme.
Also why didn’t the festival organizers get the local police involved? The local police should have detained them, ticketed them for littering and whatever else they were doing, and contacted their unit leadership to come pick them up. That would send a signal to anyone else thinking about getting rowdy that it might not be a good idea.
Just another example of typical idiots ruining things for everyone else.
More on this over at the Marmot’s Hole.
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10:19 pm on July 16th, 2008 1
This reminds me of an incident two years ago. I was up at Idong reservoir with the wife cooking hamburgers and fishing. Nice day and lots of Korean family groups out fishing too.
Along came some Army troops from Camp Stanley (I think) with their wives/yobos. As they were driving a van, one of them must have been a MSgt or above or a contractor. They first became very obvious as American GIs by their boisterous behavior (some would use “obnoxious” as the term) — very loud and obscene language. Then some of them decided to go swimming (more like wading). Splashing and yelling while swigging their beers, they were having a great time — except that they were swimming where everyone was trying to fish.
The polite Koreans packed up and left. The more bold Koreans started screaming curses at the GIs. The Americans simply blew them off. What surprised me was how their wives/yobos also blew off the Koreans — like some very low-class types associated with camptowns. The disgusted Korean finally left too.
I felt embarassed as my wife and I could be by association — considered as being like them. They finally left, but not until after the damage had been done.
These are the ugly Americans that are more prevalent than many want to believe. Though the vast majority of GIs out in the country are well-behaved and ambassadors for America, there are a growing number of these assholes out there that leave a lasting negative impression that lasts for years to come.
In over a decade going to the mountains and streams of Korea, I’ve seen lots of foreigners and GIs out there as well. Most civilian types blend right in and seem to go out of their way to mind their manners — but I’ve only seen GIs making complete asses of themselves too many times to say it is an isolated experience.
Even now, whenever I’m out in the country — if Americans GIs show up at a place I’m hanging out at to enjoy nature, I leave. And I’m a retired GI.
10:23 pm on July 16th, 2008 2
Kunsan does seem to be the Area I of the USAF. Did I say over 25 or under 25 or 25 and under for pass requirments….hmm. Soldiers were fighting though… Once again its a PR nightmare for USFK.
No soju in the dorms….Guess it means they get hammered OFF BASE now thereby increasing curfew violations and increasing Art 15’s.
Time to make Korea a dry county….err country I mean… Was Korea any better way back when or was it now one really cared back then? Think its a no win situation. I think a wall of shame might help…Kind of like Airmen/Soldier of the Quarter but only in reverse. How about a Darwin Award or Dumbass of The Month…
John
4:50 am on July 17th, 2008 3
You know, the comments at Marmot’s Hole are really true. Was looking at the photos in the Korean media and almost all seemed to feature caucasians with Koreans as a sidenote — and if there were big boobie caucasians, the amount of photos blossomed. Can’t swear they were military folk, but they sure looked like GIs. If they weren’t smeared with mud, the popular tatoos would be dead giveaways.
Thus the promoters complaints seem rather hollow. On one hand, the promoters were actually sending out all these pics of their festival featuring big boobie military folk to promote their festival — and then turn around on the other hand and bitch that these same folks make a mess. You can’t have it both ways.
8:24 am on July 17th, 2008 4
By the figures quoted in the S&S there were only 3% of attendees last year that were foreigners (70,000 of 2.17 Million). No way to know how many of those foreigners were US foreigners or servicemembers but it seems like a pretty small percentage. Of course it only takes a few bad apples to spoil it for everyone.
8:57 am on July 17th, 2008 5
To address Kalani’s point the reason I think some of these servicemembers get loud and rowdy when in real Korea is because they think the behavior is acceptable because that is what they learn from spending so much time in the ville. The servicemembers who spend the majority of their time in the ville tend to think all of Korea is the ville. Real Korea is nothing like the ville.
Leadership can help address this issue though by correcting behavior. I have seen servicemembers on the subway being loud and rowdy and I will go up to them and identify who I am and tell them they are not only making an embarassment of themselves but people like myself as well who they also represent as USFK servicemembers. They probably think I am an a**hole which I could care less about but they quiet down.
If there were so many servicemembers at the mud festival there had to be at least one leader there that could of had addressed a handful of people being rowdy on the beach but instead if there was a leader there they apparently ignored the behavior.
However correcting this behavior on a larger scale will only begin once the ville culture is changed. As long as the ville culture remains the way it is there will continue to be servicemembers who will think real Korea is just like the ville. That is why I have been arguing for years to change the ville culture.
9:20 am on July 18th, 2008 6
Not picking on you Kalini because enjoy your posts and respect you, but why didn’t you say anything to them?
11:33 am on July 18th, 2008 7
I agree with Kalani and I also am a retired GI. I also highly agree with GI Korea that the only thing GI’s in Korea or for that matter other countries know is the “ville” life. I travel Korea quite a bit and can tell you that I try to avoid GIs as to their behavior. I see them getting drunk on trains, drinking from open container of alcohol in public, and trying to hit on every women they see. I have approached them in the past and got the answer” Hey were in the Army, It’s because of us you can travel safely in Korea.” They make me look bad as an American. I think one of the problems is a lot of people comming into the military now days come from negative backgrounds.
12:43 pm on July 18th, 2008 8
Rob,
During that incident I referred to, my wife tried to talk to the yobo/wives about their group pissing off the people and to try to rein in their menfolk. They simply blew her off — and she came back rather piffed as she’s not used to being blown off by younger people. But as for me, you’re right I did nothing. When in the military, I would also travel in Korea a lot and stomped on this type of behavior if I saw it. But when I retired, I became more non-confrontational and simply shook my head as GIs never change.
BTW when I was very young in the military, my behavior was worse than many of these youngsters. Akadama wine and Oscar to grease the table for carrier landings — bare-bottom. Different times and different era for the military.
2:00 pm on July 18th, 2008 9
I understand Kalani, and certainly wasn’t trying to pick on you. I’ve been in similar situations myself throughout the years. What really sucks is that the guys who actually mind their manners and prove to be good ambassadors are the ones who pay for the stupid things the dip shi%s do.
2:05 pm on July 18th, 2008 10
Something else… While I don’t find it hard to believe that the GI’s were acting like a$$ hats at the mud festival, I do find it hard to believe that they were the only ones who left trash lying around. That my friends is a Korean pastime…
2:09 pm on July 18th, 2008 11
Suppose those GIs had told you to f*ck off. Can a superior, say, write up GIs for inappropriate behavior off-post?
4:58 pm on July 18th, 2008 12
I have never had soldiers off post ever tell me that other then one time I was on CP and a soldier was passed out drunk with head laying in the toilet of the Moscow Club in TDC. I tried to lift his head out of the toilet and the guy took a swing at me and I reacted dropping his head back in the toilet. He then started cussing up a storm getting rowdy and thus I had to get the MPs to detain him and bring him back to post.
As far as when I am in civilians clothes and having to correct people never had an issue. If I did have an issue I would ask what unit they are in and ask to see their ID cards to contact their battalion sergeant major.
If they wouldn’t tell me what unit they were in and started giving me trouble I would simply walk away make a call on the cellphone to the MP station to send a unit to meet these guys at either the Uijongbu and TDC train station they are heading to or to look for them when they try to enter the gates of the camp.
But like I said before I have never had any issues and every time I had to correct soldiers I’m polite but direct which tends to be a good combination to correct behavior.
10:39 am on July 20th, 2008 13
1:04 am on July 26th, 2008 14