About 2,000 Dongducheon residents held a rally in Yoido on Tuesday in which they demanded that the government prepare countermeasures to help alleviate the economic losses their city will suffer when U.S. troops leave the city. Dongducheon is the home of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division, two brigades of which will be heading to Iraq and the rest may be redeployed to Pyeongtaek, south of the Han River. For a city where one out of seven is a U.S. soldier (75,000 to 14,000), the sudden transfer and relocation of the 2nd Infantry Division is threatening to “kill” the city’s economy, and government regulations placed on construction and development in military areas has limited the city’s economic choices.
I’ve been to Dongducheon, and it’s by far the worst city I’ve been to in Korea. It’s a hole, and I know much of that is due to regulations placed on the city by Seoul owing to its special military status. Given the city’s dependence on U.S. military business, one would hope the government is planning measures to help Dongducheon’s residents once 2ID pulls out. These people have sacrificed for national security (that’s not a slam on USFK, BTW), and Seoul needs to remember their sacrifice when their economic lifeline redeploys to Pyeongtaek.
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I wonder how many of the poor residents were involved in the 2002 Race Riots?
I also recommend that Korean nationals working on U.S. bases start working on their resumes.
Weren’t they the ones that protested to have the base moved away from their city? Didn’t they elect a mayor on that platform?
I could easily be wrong, but I seem to remember that.
Plunge — that was Uijeongbu where that occured, not Dongducheon:
Marmot’s Hole: Be careful what you campaign on (5/11/2003)
Dongducheon residents — and the business community in particular — have been particularly sensitive about protests going on in their town. Would makes sense, actually, given the role 2ID plays in the city’s economy. The group above also held a protest on June 5 — what was special about it, says OhMy, was that it was held in front of Camp Casey by a group people who have generally been loath to protest in front of US military facilities. And even then, one of the guys involved in the event (the head of the Bosan-dong store owners’ association) was quick to point out that even though they were staging the event in front of Camp Casey, a) their beef was not with USFK, but the central government, and b) because of their close relationship with the U.S. military, they wanted to make this protest as short and peaceful as possible. Interesting way they did it, too, as you can see from the pictures — funeral attire, i.e. the base move cum gov’t neglect is “killing” TDC and its residents.
Oh, the red writing on the sign the guys are carrying in the pic — it’s written in their blood.
Last week there have been rumors in German newspapers about a removal of ca. 37,000 US troops from ca. 70,000 GIs stationed in Germany to East European countries or back to the US. The local German businessmen near the military installations and garrisons (in rural & infrastructurally weak regions) are not that happy about the rumored US troops relocations plans either, but they’re not financially disregarded by their national or provinical governments, if a US troop reduction occurs in reality.
let’s say 3 “Man Sae”s for the Uri Party and President Roh Moo Hyun !!!
I hate all liberals. Whatever country they are in. RMH, in particular lacks foresight and is quite inept as a leader. I can blame at least 3 generations of pro-Japanese, Kyong Sang Do, money hoarding politicians for RMH’s ascension to the top. Basically, a backlash from the people.
But RMH and the Uri party are delusional. They don’t have the economical might of Germany or Japan. Yet, they are talking about a permanent self defense. Against a country with nukes, and a 1 million man army. The timing is so bad. And Koreans are selfish.
Ah, thanks for the correction!
WJK, democracy was a pretty liberal concept in 1776. It also surprises me how often I hear the word “hate” from “conservatives.”
BTW, hope you are not an English teacher. Your grammar is awful.
It’s one brigade, not two.
Screw the business owners in Tong-du-chon, I hope they all go out of business when the US Army departs. Travel the world over and you won’t find a bigger collection of thieves, shysters, and scam-artists than in TDC.
As to the bar-owners, not only do I hope those pimps lose everything they own, I hope their daughters end up working in a Pyongtaek “juicy bar”. Just as a form of karmic justice.
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