The range was started in 1951 when the Suwon AB was expanded to accommodate multiple fighter wings during the Korean War. The exact date of its origin remains unknown — but the location of an off-shore island (Nongdo: Target Island 1) and a beach front with a seaward approach were ideal.

Jerry Gergasko of Englewood, OH wrote in 2008, “I spent 7 months assigned to K-55, Osan. The entire time was spent at the Suwon Bomb & Gunnery Range.” He was assigned there as an Air Force Radio Operator between 1954-1955 from K-55 (Osan AB). The range supported all the units in the area. The call-sign for the range was “Turkey Trot”. The troops lived in a quonset hut directly on the beach which housed the radio equipment at the rear. In the main compound on the hill, there was the aircraft control tower. At times he stated that they would handle as many as 20 flights of 4 Sabres each in a day’s work.

Maehyang-ri, was small fishery village in Hwaseong City, located right next to the firing range. The village name combines the meaning of a Japanese apricot tree flower (Maehwa) and the sweet aromatic scent (Hyang). According to Korean reports, there were many apricot trees that were by the village beach in the past. Supposedly 3,200 villagers used to make their living by rice farming and harvesting crab, oyster, octopus, and other fisheries from the sea, which have been an important source of income for generations.

(L) Jerry inside quonset with radio (R) Foul line with 50 gal drums (1955) (Jerry Gergasko)

(L) Painted Tower for FEAF Meet (R) Village Elders (1955) (Jerry Gergasko)

Workers at Site: Tommy, Sammy and Ace (1955) (Jerry Gergasko)

He continued, “The third shows the upper tower and hereto, we had painted it for the coming meet as it was just a drab color. You can see the radio building which was built later and housed the equipment. In the foreground is the panel which was painted red on one side and white on the other. If we had a problem and the range was closed we flipped the panel to the red side up … the white side up indicated we were open. The fourth picture shows the village leaders on a Sunday morning walk as they enjoyed coming to visit. The fifth was taken at a nearby Homer site … I do not recall the name …” Jerry stated, “…all of us at the range got along extremely well with the local villagers. At times they invited us to thing going on and one of our boys was married while I was still there. The old gentleman farmers would take their Sunday morning walks to the range at times and in no way, during my 7 months, were there ever any hostilities between us and the nearby village.” The photo of Tommy, Sammy, and Ace are boys from Maehyang-ri who worked at the range. Their hats say “Turkey Trot.”

(L) FEAF Radio Building (R) FEAF Viewing Area (1955) (Jerry Gergasko)

The photos of the Quonset hut that housed the radio equipment for Turkey Trot. In the second photo is the quonset hut decorated with a “Welcome Home” sign after Jerry returned from R&R.

(L) Quonset Hut — Turkey Trot (R) Quonset Hut with “Welcome Home” Sign (1955) (Jerry Gergasko)

The technique for “bomb skipping” used conventional bombs to skip the bomb over the surface of the water to impact into the side of dams — and proved very effective in the waning days of the Korean War when all the dams were destroyed in the North. The “Homer” Site was a restricted radio relay site operated by the 1246th AACS. The 1246th Airways and Air Communication Service (AACS) operated sites and control towers throughout Korea.

(L) FEAF Skip Bombing (R) Jerry at Nearby Homer Site (1955) (Jerry Gergasko)

During the time Jerry was there, there were good relations with the people surrounding the range. From 1958 into the 1970s, the Kooni Range became one of our primary practice targets for aircraft both in Korea and Japan — for USAF, Navy and Marine. At the time, the Kooni Range consisted of a 24-square kilometer area which served for both nuclear (LABS) and conventional bombing and firing practice. One ex-Marine pilot related, “I remember practicing over the shoulder maneuvers in A4s at Koon Ni, in 1960. It was a pile of mud with an “X” marking the bullseye, and bomb scavengers on the range were plentiful. We used a 500 knot, 100 foot run in and pulled up directly over the bull. At the same time the scavengers would run like hell to the spot they thought the Mk 76 bomb would hit, and when it arrived, dug it out of the ground. The puff of smoke was generally surrounded by folks who didn’t complain about jet noise.” (Source: Bad Day at Kooni Range.)

However, many years later Kooni Range turned into controversial site where anti-American activists used it as an example of how the US high-handedly used Korean land for its own purposes. Spurred on by the anti-American fervor, the activist NGO environmental groups entered the fray, “Maehyangri” became the battle cry for ousting the US from the range. Activists claimed that “in 1968, the village farms were sold for 150-200 won per acre, an unreasonably low amount of money compared to the lands’ actual value.” The Ministry of Defense took over the lands and the range was operated by the USFK, although the land was controlled by the Ministry of Defense. As such, the farmers on the land adjacent to the range “rented” the land from the government. The following was prepared by the “National Action Committee for the Closure of the Maehyang-ri U.S. Armed Forces International Bombing Range” (August 15, 2000). It stated:
 

On May 8, 2,000, one of three U.S. Air Force A-10 aircrafts en route to training range near Kunsan from Osan Air Base developed engine trouble causing the pilot to abandon the bombs on board to reduce flight weight. Six 500-pound bombs were abandoned into the sea near Nong-do, off the coast of village called Maehyang-ri. Villagers claimed the explosion caused damages to 700 homes and injuries to a number of people. In response to the alarmed and frightened complaints and demands of the villagers, the U.S. Armed Forces in Korea officially denied that any real damage had resulted from the accidental bombing.

Following a joint probe of the accident, South Korean and U.S. investigators announced in early June that the accident had caused no ‘direct’ injuries or damage to villagers or their homes near the U.S. Air Force facility. The usual and casual denial of what the villagers know as reality — for the last fifty years — provoked long pent-up anger.

“Maehyang-ri” has emerged as a volatile focal point of Korea-U.S. relations. The issue has been smouldering ever since the area was appropriated as the “bombing and firing practice range” for the U.S. Armed Forces in the Far East. The May 8 incident shocked and reawakened Maehyang-ri villagers to the constant danger of the firing range which they had as their permanent neighbour. Maehyang-ri is home to some 3,200 villagers exposed to unending plight and harassment by constant extreme noise, fatal accidents arising from “stray” bombing and firing, and environmental contamination and impact. In May 2000, it “exploded” to grip the entire Korean society and people as the “heart of the matter” in the issues of human rights, justice, respect, and sovereignty that have plagued the relationship between the U.S. and Korea over the question of the U.S. Armed Forces in Korea.

“Maehyang-ri” has become the test ground for the issues of relations between the two sovereign nations of Korea and the U.S., human rights and safety of Korean people, the nature and content of the “Status of Forces Agreement” which governs the presence of the U.S. Armed Forces in Korea, the general issue of U.S. troops in Korea, and even the integrity of the Korean government.

Where is Maehyang-ri and what is happening there?

Maehyang-ri is a village in Hwasong-kun (county) of Kyongki-do (province), located 80 kilometers southwest of Seoul. 3,200 villagers (used to) make their living by rice farming and harvesting crab, oyster, octopus, and other fisheries from the sea, which have been an important source of income for generations.

But, their home — their land and their sea — has been taken over since 1951-2 as the “home” for the U.S. Air Force’s Kooni Range. Since then, and until now, over 24 square kilometers of sea and land, ever since the time of the Korean War when it had been appropriated, has been the “bombing and firing practice” range for the U.S. Air Force and allied forces.

The Kooni Range is composed of a bombing range for bomber planes on the Nong-do island (which can be reached on foot during low tide) off the coast and a strafing range on the edge of the village. U.S. Air Force fighter jets and bombers, such as F-16, A-10, and OV-10, not only from the U.S. Air Force based in Korea, but also in Okinawa, Thailand, Guam, and the Philippines swoop on Maehyang-ri to drop their bombs and spray their bullets on the targets in the range in bombing practice and gunnery drills. The bombing and firing take place throughout the daylight hours and even until late at night for 250 days a year, stopping only for weekends and holidays.

GlobalSecurity.org provided some of the background for why the USFK shut down Kooni Range. It stated, “The proposed civilian airline routes of the new Inchon International Airport, scheduled to open in 2003, encroach on the airspace at Koon-Ni Bombing Range, the primary United States range in Korea. Korean proposals will eliminate most flying into Koon Ni Range. Unless the US develops an alternative, the loss of Koon Ni range will force aircrews to train off-peninsula at a much higher cost. Incheon International Airport opened its operation on Thursday, March 29, 2001.” After Inchon IAP opened up, Kooni Range was still used for practice bombing on Target Island 1 (Nongdo) just off-shore, but no longer served as a strafing range.

The range was excluded from the Land Partnership Program (LPP) closure because of a stalemate where the ROK considered the Kooni Range a USFK range because of the March 2000 judgement. The ROK claimed it was the USFK responsibility. In Jan 2004, Donald Rumsfield stated that the range would be returned to the ROK in 2005 to end the dispute.

The USFK had exclusive use of the range — though it belonged to the Ministry of Defense. This brought about some strange occurrences during the Roh Moo-hyun administration where the activists sued the Ministry of Defense — and the courts awarded a judgement against the US for damages to the farmers — though the activists could NOT sue the USFK. In the end, the ROK “asked” the USFK to pay its “share” of the judgement — which was promptly refused.

In Mar 2004, upholding a lower court decision, South Korea’s highest court ruled that the state must compensate residents near a U.S. military firing range for damages resulting from shooting and bombing exercises. The Supreme Court on 15 Mar 2004 ordered the state to pay 14 plaintiffs in Maehyang-ri, Gyeonggi Province, between 9.75 million won and 11.05 million won (US$9,348) each. At first the ROK attempted to get the USFK to pay, but later stated it would pay the damages by the 15 Mar deadline. However immediately following the payment to the residents, the ROK government started a row over the payments. The USFK flatly refused claiming that Article 3 exempted them from payment, while the ROK claimed Article 21 applies for personal claims for injury where the USFK pays 75 percent. The USFK again stated that the ROK was in error in its interpretation. In the end, the USFK simply refused to pay anything. (Source: Maehyang-ri and Stars and Stripes.)

Kooni Range was officially shutdown in Aug 2005 after 54 years of exclusive use by the USAF. However, its loss resulted in a significant shortage of training for the 7th Air Force. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld issued the threat when he met with his counterpart, Yoon Kwang-ung, during an annual security consultation in Seoul in October 2005. Mr. Rumsfeld complained about the lack of bombing ranges in Korea for the U.S. Air Force. The ROK offered a sharing of Pilsung Range but the training allocation was totally inadequate — and pilots had to be sent out of country to remain proficient. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

Soon thereafter in 2006, the Chikdo Range off Kunsan was named to replace the Kooni Range — however, it did not possess a WISS (weapons impact scoring system) required for USAF training. The USFK demanded the WISS be installed immediately. In the end, the loss of training became such an issue that the retiring 7th AF Commander, Lt. Gen. Trexler, in 2006 stated that if it was not resolved, the USAF would consider pulling out of Korea. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

The main beneficiary of the Kooni Range closure was the the main Kia Motors Hwaseong Export assembly plant that was located near to the range. Since Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors built a pier in Asan port exclusively for shipments of cars, the port has become an export center of automotive vehicles. The present site can be viewed on Google Earth showing proximity of the Kia plant to the strafing range and main compound that are still intact — with Nongdo offshore.

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