By Well now it appears that not only is fraudulent adoption going on to get Korean students into schools on USFK military bases, but at least four students are Korean nationals with no ties at all to the US military:
U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) schools are suspected of having admitted Korean students in breach of the country’s Education Law that bans Korean nationals from attending them.
Korean authorities say no Korean student is allowed to enroll in U.S. schools here. “It is illegal under the Education Law for Korean nationals to attend American DoD schools. If there are Korean students there, they should be expelled,” said Lee Ji-sun, an official of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
However, the Korea District Superintendent’s office of the DoD Schools said, “There are four Korean national students enrolled in our schools who are not affiliated with the U. S. military.”
It said that those students have followed the proper DoD and host nation procedures to enroll in the schools as tuition paying, space-permitted students. “There have been no Korean national students enrolled in our schools without the proper documentation,” said Terry A. Greene, chief of staff and education of the schools.
Asked about eligibility for Korean students, DoD schools said the Korean Education Ministry has cleared the way for Korean nationals to attend the schools.
“For a Korean national to attend a DoD-Korea school, the students must obtain a waiver from the Ministry of Education. If a waiver is obtained, the student may be enrolled on a space available, tuition paying status,” Greene said, adding, “The most frequent reason for the approval of a waiver request is when a Korean diplomatic family or a Korean family representing a Korean corporation has taken an overseas assignment for multiple years and the student would have difficulty assimilating back into the Korean education system.”
However, education ministry officials said they have never issued “waiver” documents and the ministry doesn’t provide these for individual students. “There is no way for us to issue documents for individuals. We only provide authorized documents to government agencies and other education authorities, not to students,” said Sung Samje, a ministry director.
Still, the superintendent office of the U.S. army schools said, “We do have documents from the Ministry of Education on file.” [Korea Times]
What I wonder is if there are any non-command sponsored kids out there that have been denied a spot at the DOD schools while Korean nationals have been given enrollment?
1:20 pm on January 21st, 2009 1
Non-command sponsored kids are in a higher category of eligibiliity to attend DoD schools than Korean kids unaffiliated with DoD or the US government, according to DoD regulations. [Non-command sponsored kids attend on a space-available, tuition free basis; unaffiliated Korean kids attend on a space-available, tuition paying basis.] So, if DoDDs plays by the rules, NO non-command sponsored kids should be denied a spot at DoDDS because of unaffiliated Korean kids.
3:34 pm on January 21st, 2009 2
#1: You miss a very important point: not every kid is in the same grade.
If there are 100 slots for 5th graders, and after all-DoD kids (command sponsored or otherwise) are signed up, and there are two empty slots remaining – they are available for non-DoD affiliated kids.
At the same time ~
If there are 100 slots for 6th graders, and all are filled, but there are still some non-command sponsored kids who want into a slot – they are out of luck.
11:21 pm on January 21st, 2009 3
[raising hand] Bingo! I'm in that boat! Not only was I non-command sponsored, but now the bastards say we can't even have a non-command sponsored slot on the waiting list because I'm not assigned to USFK!!!
1:10 am on January 22nd, 2009 4
Mark, I'm interested in your story, could you please tell more.
1:50 am on January 22nd, 2009 5
David,
When I was on Yongsan, my wife went to Child & Youth Services (CYS) to see if my daughter could go to the Child Development Center (CDC). Like all other bureaucratic Vogons in Area II, the first question asked was, "Are you command sponsored?" Upon hearing "no," they reply that she must be placed on a waiting list. We never advanced from the waiting list. My wife's Korean spouse mafia says nobody ever advances from the non-command sponsored waiting list.
When we went back to Uijeongbu and 2ID, my daughter started going to a Korean preschool near our apartments. This is fine and dandy for her social skills and basic education, but now she can't speak English and I'm out the equivalent of a monthly car payment for two years of tuition. My wife again went to CYS after I was deployed to see if we could advance on the waiting list. Not only did they deny it, but they said we couldn't even be on the waiting list any longer because I wasn't stationed in Korea!
I place the blame squarely on Corean borderline personality disorder, which makes them think of a black or white cookie cutter solution for every problem. I PCS'ed from Korea to Kuwait with TCS in Iraq and TDY enroute at Riley. Now I'm attached to Walter Reed in D.C. indefinitely, which really makes the Corean mind short-circuit. Any complicated situation for which they are not prepared automatically defaults the Corean mind to the most restrictive rule set, and this is what has happened to me repeatedly.
It took me three working days of my leave last September to get ration control, base access, and vehicle licensing squared away under special circumstances. In each case, I had to bypass the Koreans and go to an American to fix my issues. If I ever get to take leave from here, I'm going to do the same on Yongsan and see what happens, because my wife can't make any headway with these corrupt Vogons.
6:05 am on January 22nd, 2009 6
Zephron Beeblebrox couldn't charm these people to do anything…
6:05 am on January 22nd, 2009 7
Seems like we are going to have interacting threads. After a child attends one day of the quarter, that money is non refundable. What happens to the slots that were paid for, but the family got kicked out due to the ongoing CCK issue? 23k a year is a lot of coin. Another crazy part is that Cat 1, Space required, tuition paying is only 900 dollars a year cheaper than someone that has no affiliation with US Forces whatsoever. That kills me. If anyone is on Command Sponsored orders, they should be in the same Catagory. Space required, tuition free. I know a little about the school system, but 350k for a class of 15 kids still seems a tad high. We dont even have metal detectors or C wire around our schools like back home.
8:09 am on January 22nd, 2009 8
Contractor Quo: to what are you entitled? You're employed by a war-profiteering robber baron. Your employer can probably pay for your kids to go to an international school and figure out a way to bill the government for it.
Gardner: to what are you entitled? It might be more convenient for your spouse and child to be in Korea while you're assigned elsewhere, but I can see no reason for you to feel like a victim of anything. If they were in either of the two places that the Army considers to be their proper locations – at your permanent home of record or in a residence close to your current duty station – you'd still be paying to send your child to a CDC or AYS facility, or you'd be on a waiting list and paying more for off-post services. You need to get over never being granted a command sponsorship. If you were wounded and are now being treated at Walter Reed, you likely have greater immediate worries.
9:04 am on January 22nd, 2009 9
For PCS from unaccompanied OCONUS area to another unaccompanied OCONUS area, authorized to name a "designated place" for location of dependents with all entitlements for that "designated place."
I'm also entitled to b!tch and moan. I'm an unsatisfied victim, after all.
9:15 am on January 22nd, 2009 10
Mark, I've been in Korea going on 4 years now. Everyone from the top down knows whats going on and the way business is done here. I have fought fair and square, rationalized, explained in fine detail all with no results. It is only when I threaten to tear their house of cards down via. contacting my political representative that their attitude changes. I always contact everyone in the system who has the ability to rectify problems and give them a fair chance at resolution. Trust me, the Eighth Army Commander does not like to see inquiries from Senators, Congressmen or the President. All of these political representatives have people sitting around twiddling their thumbs waiting for something to do. You don't need to use your chain of command prior to contacting them either because as I said before, Everyone from the top down knows whats going on – their just hoping to ride the gravy train for as long as they can before they get caught. If you don't do it for yourself, use your experience and do it for others.
9:23 am on January 22nd, 2009 11
Unsatisfied LG DACOM Victim
Good gosh man. You are complaining about LG DACOM – this guy is concerned for the well-being of his American child.