Last Saturday while entering Yongsan garrison for a breakfast with a friend, I noticed at the sign in gate that there was a ‘wanted’ poster on the wall. On closer inspection I saw that a US soldier named Shawn B. Culbertson had been missing from Camp Casey (Dongduchon, right?) since November 20th - that’s over a week if he’s still missing now.
He is white, 6′1″ tall, with blue eyes, brown hair and no distinguishing features. I am sorry I don’t have a photo to show you.
But what I wonder is - where does a tall, AWOL, white GI go to hide in Korea? A hagwon?
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OMG, the word is full of strange coincidences. I’ve been playing the mmorpg Lineage2 recently and I met a couple of guys who I regularly play with and chat it up in teamspeak. Two of the guys are currently in the U.S. army in Korea and I’m pretty sure at least one of them is stationed in Dongduchon. Or at least, he is always complaining about being stationed in some hick backwater instead of Seoul so it maybe the place.
Occassionally there are soldiers that go AWOL and get on a plane and go back to America. Any time you see a wanted poster that means the soldier is hanging out here in Korea. More than likely got hooked up with a drinky girl and just staying here until he realizes what a big mistake he has made and then turns himself in. And yes Camp Casey is in Dongducheon.
I met a former member of USFK in the 1980s in the US who said occasionally some people do go AWOL and remain in Korea.
There was a case I remember hearing about where a soldier from Camp Humphreys went AWOL. They found him a couple week afterwards living in a tent under a highway overpass, he depended on his girfriend to bring him food.
Not very smart. It was probably the fear of being in a unknown country, with people who don’t speak the same language, and a girlfrind who wasn’t smart enough, or didn’t care enough to help him out more; that causes the guy to just give ti up and live in a tent. . . .
this particular guy? who knows. . . but I would wager that he left with a drinky girl, (who are often times prisoners in this country too) and they didn’t do anything smart like go teach at a hagwon or tutor english.
start looking for tents under intersections.
. . . also, maybe I have a higher opinion of hagwons than others, but given your scenario or him going to a hagwon, I find if hard to believe they would just higher some unknown person, and not in the process of checking on his degree or checking his visa realize something is up. Then I would hope the hagwon would do the right thing and turn the guy in. (if to no one else than imigration)
Hey, if Konguk University didn’t bother to check up on the validity of its employees’ degrees, why should some sketchy hagwon?
Hey Jing - what server do you play Lineage on?