27-year-old Sgt. Yoon Jang-ho, a soldier with a Korean engineering unit in Afghanistan, was killed today during the suicide bombing attack on Bagram Air Base (in Korean).
Yoon was the first military fatality Korea has suffered in the War on Terror. Korea has some 200 engineers and medics based at Bagram.
Condolences go to the young man’s family, and I ask my readers to remember that for as shitty a state the Korea-U.S. alliance may be in, Korea still sent men to Afghanistan and Iraq to help an ally in need. And it just paid the ultimate price for doing so—the sacrifice of one of its youth.
Ironically enough, the Taliban—who claimed credit for the attack—said the intended target was U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who was staying at Bagram. Yes, the very same Dick Cheney who snubbed Korea during his recent tour to the region. Exhibit A as to why regardless of how bad bilateral ties are, when you’re vice president, you don’t act like an asshole to a country that has sent troops to a foreign war zone at your request.
44 Comments
There’s a Yonhap article in English here (and it didn’t take long for this to turn up, did it?).
Are the Korean troops scattered around the country or centered in Bagram? I’m assuming Bagram isn’t where the action is, considering the number of Canadian and British troops killed in the last year in the south.
The Korean soldiers I served with in Vietnam would certainly have gone beyond any perimeter the Americans set up at this point(everyday), at least a quarter mile. They have the guts to do so. He was struck in between a “GREEN ZONE” and a hard place. Combat for the Korean soldiers in Iraq is showcase. Regardless, the man was doing everthing he could not to die. I view this as “wrong place, wrong time”. The Kurds lost a Korean engineer today.
I have nothing but the greatest respect for Korean soldiers….hard working..(for the most part)…often maltreated…misunderstood….but professional as much as possible…..soldiers - irrespective of their government’s current popularity….are unsung heros who do their duties to the extreme….unfortunately they are hardly ever recognized unless it serves some politicians political gain…..
With all those soldiers Korea has sent to Iraq, I’m surprised that this is the first casualty. I thought Koreans have some combat troops in Iraq, in policing capacity, don’t they?
May He Rest in Peace.
My condolences to his family, too.
May God bless this man and his family, indeed.
1) From the Yonhap link, bulgasari #1:
“…The [Korean] JCS identified him as 27-year-old Army Sgt. Yoon Jang-ho, who was on duty around a gate of a military base in Bagram, about 60 kilometers north of Kabul, when a suicide bomber attacked….
Yoon, a graduate of Indiana University in the United States, has been serving at the base since last September on a translation mission…”
2) “…Are the Korean troops scattered around the country or centered in Bagram?…”
If these are Korean Army combat engineers organized along the US model, 200 men constitute approximately a company size unit, with 3 or 4 platoons; the platoons will have probably 3 squads.
Combat engineer platoons and squads are capable of accomplishing various tasks according to standard doctrine, to include semi-independent (detached) operations for some period of time away from their own higher unit HQ. As long as they are supported; if they are “detached”, then by doctrine this support is supposed to be done by the unit to which they are “attached” (in this case this would likely be a NATO combat infantry battalion, or a USAF security police unit, or a US Army, US Marine, or a NATO (French/German/UK) military police unit).
Since I presume the average ROK combat engineer (call him Private “Kim”) doesn’t speak English/French/German, it would be a good idea for ROK engineers operating “detached” to have at least one proficient translator; sounds like this might have been Sergeant Yoon’s projected job (”… a graduate of Indiana University in the US…on a translation mission…”).
So, combat engineers can do support of other units’ operations; indeed that’s a standard mission for them. One good example of this would be the clearing of minefields (in this case, not under emergency (combat) conditions).
(Note: by “combat” in this example, I mean the actual clearing of mines while under fire from defending enemy forces, in order to clear a “lane” for the forward passage of friendly attacking forces. This type of mine-clearing should be no longer necessary in/around Bagram air base, though it’s possible such a mission could occur in the south of the country, where the British/Canadians/Anmericans are engaged in offensive operations against the Taliban/Al Queda).
In 2001, when we invaded, I gather there were millions of old (mostly Soviet) mines scattered all over Afghanistan; a job of years, maybe decades, to clear them all.
To include the area of Bagram air base! I remember seeing some TV footage about this very subject a few years ago, showing mine-clearing ops in/around Bagram air base; during the Soviet occupation, the Soviets would have laid mines liberally as part of their airfield perimeter protection.
Don’t remember the nationality of the engineer troops involved; don’t think they were Korean at that time.
Very slow work clearing mines (as opposed to laying them); a high “pucker” factor job, as you might imagine. But pretty good training; a well-prepared ROK combat engineer unit, one which has had a tour in Afghanistan and successfully cleared a lot of mines, would be likely to return to Korea with its morale and esprit de corps considerably enhanced.
ROK Army engineer branch would/could/should (IMO) consider this “good training”, in that the standard “threat” faced by ROK forces involves NorK forces making extensive use of Soviet type mines and minefields.
3) So — the question is: was this scenario an example of what the ROK engineers were/are actually doing at Bagram? Don’t know, but it would be interesting to find out.
I don’t read Korean so I can’t scan Korean language news sources for clues/inferences as to what they might have reported about the specific tasks of the ROK forces in Afghanistan; but, perhaps there’s some official news releases from the Coalition authority in Afghanistan “on-line” somewhere.
Maybe one of you can take a look if interested; I’ve got slow-dial up connections, though I’ll give it the old college try.
May the suicide bomber’s virgins be fat and ugly…and male.
Paul H.,
You’re probably right. South Korea has very good mine clearing technology. This would be an excellent opportunity for them to put it to practice and improve upon it.
tears for Sarge Yoon.
A spit on the ground for the worthless suicide bomber.
If I am not mistaken, the Korean troops in the ME were mostly volunteers and went because they wanted to. In light of this, I would agree with what one military person told me and that is they are there because they saw this as an opportunity to further develop themselves in a real-war situation and to increase their military professionalism. (Although one could question how much actual combat training they are getting over there.)
It is unfortunate that opposition in Korea regarding Korea’s participation in this war overshadowed the ROK soldiers’ personal reasons for going. I was at a dinner party this weekend and was talking to a U.S. Marine who just finished his first year in Iraq and was in Korea to visit his wife who is finishing up her service down here and after talking to him, I guess you could say that it happens in every country that is at war…things get politicized more than they should.
One casualty is heart-breaking but as someone said earlier, it is surprising (and fortunate) that it has only been just one person thus far. I know there are strong opinions out there as to why that casualty rate is so low (and don’t compare it to Japan’s rather bloodless peace keeping efforts because Japan is not a military state like Korea is), but I would venture to guess that ROK soldiers themselves would probably like to see more active involvement out there than they currently are.
Still, the loss is life is sad in any situation, and this is not an exception.
I was saddened to hear about Sgt. Yoon’s death.
“A spit on the ground for the worthless suicide bomber.”
Indeed.
The KIA was a Kyopo serving in the ROK as a translator. Many Korean kyopos have died in Iraq, serving in the US army. But it’s usually guys like Robert Kim who are/will be held up as prime examples of Kyopos until the world ends.
Don’t be so cheap as to use the death of this brave man as a platform for your bitterness and resentment.
I feel very sorry for the family of Sgt. Yoon Jang-ho. While any death is unfortunate, the Korean public shouldn’t be surprised, particularly when we take into account other lesser known coalition countries with smaller forces that have been deployed in actual combat operations that have had many casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan over the years.
Neverthless, casualties are bound to happen in any overseas deployment even in peacetime. The ROK gov’t does a disservice to the Korean public by using terms like “non-combat” missions or describing the ROK engineers as a “non-combat unit”. Such ambiguous terminology shows this governement’s ignorance and insults the ROK’s capabilities by downgrading their mission and leaving them hamstrung in a combat zone.
All this tap-dancing and tip-toeing around by the K-gov’t just to appease anti-American elements at home, while winning no points with the coalition. I can’t imagine a worser way to die for nothing.
That being said, cm’s comment #12 is proof again that a lil’ bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing and that people who don’t speak Korean should disabuse themselves of misusing Korean words until they’ve either learned the language or learned the terminology correctly.
Wrong. Sgt. Yoon Jang-ho was a Korean citizen who had studied overseas as a 유학생. You can’t just use the word “교포” to describe a Korean that has studied or spent a significant amount of time overseas or one who’s abroad. (See below.)
There is no such thing as a “Korean Kyopo”. As with many expats, there is common misbelief that “교포” ㅊcan be loosely translated as “expat”. Wrong. (For correct usage, see below.)
Also, we do not refer to Korean Americans in service of the U.S. Armed Forces as well as those who have died in the service of the U.S. as “교포들”.
Those are Americans, or Korean Americans. That being said, there have been quite a few Korean Americans as well as other Asian Americans who have died in the service of their country while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces during OEF/OIF.
Wrong again.
Is Benedict Arnold a “prime example” of the loyalty and patriotism of white Americans “until the world ends”?
Is Jonathan Pollard a “prime example” of Jewish Americans?
How about someone like Robert Hanssen, that FBI mole, who’s betrayal is said to have been responsible for the death of hundreds of CIA agents and operatives all over the world? Is he typical?
And what about people like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacey, Richard Speck, Ed Kemper, Danny Rolling, Gary Ridgway, Dennis Rader et al. Are these guys “prime examples” of white manhood and typical white American male behavior toward women and children “until the world ends”? Hmm. Sometimes I wonder.
If the aforementioned examples, however, are not “prime examples” of white American males, then tell me how one, highly obscure individual like Robert Kim, can ever be an example of all Korean Americans?
Robert Kim, as a first generation immigrant, who emigrated to the U.S. as an adult is hardly a “prime example” of anyone or anything, except himself, so stop trying to scapegoat an entire community that represents a diverse demographic with the actions of one obscure old guy.
Also, don’t use the word “교포” unless you understand what it means. For cm’s benefit (obviously he needs it), here’s a quick review:
Tupes of Koreans and the correct nomenclature:
1) Korean citizen/Korean citizen abroad: 한국사람
2) Korean citizen who has studied abroad: 유학생
3) Different types of 교포들:
a) Koreans from the U.S.: Korean American, KA;
b) Koreans from Canada: Korean Canadians
c) Koreans from Japan: Zainichi, Korean Japanese
d) Koreans from China: 조선족, Korean Chinese
e) Koreans from Russia/ Ukraine/ Uzbekistan/ Kazakhstan and other central AsianRepublics: 고료사람
f) Koreans who are citizens or passport holders of other countries: Korean + (insert nationality here).
g) Koreans from Sakhalin Island: 사할린한국인
“But it’s usually guys like Robert Kim who are/will be held up as prime examples of Kyopos until the world ends.”
By whom? Very few people in the United States would have the slightest clue who Robert Kim is. The average American is probably unaware of the term “Kyopo”. Most of us who live in Korea and post here are aware that Robert Kim is not exactly representative of all kyopos. Are you even sure Sgt. Yoon was a kyopo?
H. Kim—You’re right about Sgt. Yoon not being a gyopo, but I don’t think cm—who I believe is an overseas Korean—was trying to suggest that all gyopos should be regarded as Robert Kims. in fact, I think he was criticizing the perceived tendency of some of the frequent commenters on this blog to generalize all overseas Koreans as disloyal and potential 5th columns.
I have to say, it is entertaining to see a Korean-American lecturing a Korean-Canadian (is that an approved term, BTW?) on the proper use of the word “교포”.
As for Sgt. Yoon, cm, although he seemed to have lived in the U.S. for a number of years, didn’t the article say he was serving in the Korean military, not the U.S. military? I would assume then he was a Korean citizen and chose not to join the U.S. military, but rather fulfill his duty as a male Korean citizen.
I figured CM was referring to the hero status Robert Kim enjoys over here.
Anyway, condolences to the family of Sgt. Yoon.
Of course not. Rather, he said that guys like Robert Kim “are/will be held up as prime examples” of all KAs. Pretty harsh indictment if you ask me. Also, I don’t think cm is Korean.
Perhaps, if you really wanna read into the comment that much. However, I didn’t and I don’t want to, as I think his comment can stand on its own.
Audio report from a Times of London reporter, on NPR, here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/s.....Id=7626849
Nothing about the ROK soldier specifically, however, the suicide bomber evidently pretended to be a truck driver and joined a group of other truck drivers, evidently in line or in a group, waiting to fill out forms in order to have their vehicles/trucks searched, prior to being allowed to enter the air base.
So I infer it’s likely that Sergeant Joon was either a driver or perhaps a “vehicle commander” of an ROK or maybe a US military vehicle, probably waiting to enter the airbase on a resupply or logistics mission. Can’t say any of this “positively”, but I suspect neither he nor the other ROK troops in Afghanistan were/are actually based on Bagram air base (see below).
20 others killed were evidently all Afghan truck drivers or workers waiting to enter the base. One US soldier and one US contractor employee, nationality uncertain, were also killed — total of 23 dead is the report, including the ROK soldier.
As usual, Marmot nails it. Ironically, just look who replied first to my trolling post. Any surprise there?
If the dead guy is a “brave man”, I can’t imagine what raving rant we would have been subjected to if the guy was a North Korean spy. And H.Kim, my, you’re really stuck up on terms for gyopos, aren’t you?
If the dead guy is a “brave man”, I can’t imagine what raving rant we would have been subjected to if the guy was a North Korean spy.
WTF? Having a bad logic day?
Nothing about the ROK forces in Afghanistan on the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) website, that I could find. I didn’t look at everything but looked in “likely” sublinks; ROK not listed on the comprehensive list of countries contributing, but I sense that this list has not been updated lately.
They’ve got quite a few press releases, also their monthly magazine is in numerous pdf’s, takes me too long to go ghrough them all comprehensively with my dial up. I looked but didn’t see snything about the ROK continegnet but maybe there’s something there, if somebody with a faster hook up wants to look:
http://www2.hq.nato.int/ISAF/index.htm
However, Wikipedia has something:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P.....T_Panjshir
“Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) is an administrative unit of international aid to Afghanistan and Iraq, consisting of a small operating base from which a group of sixty to more than one thousand civilians and military specialists work to perform small reconstruction projects or provide security for others involved in aid and reconstruction work.
Within these PRTs there are typically 3-5 civilians and the remainder is made up of military forces. PRTs are backed by national and international security forces. PRTs were originally built and operated by US forces as means of facilitating reconstruction efforts in provinces outside the capital, Kabul. Following NATO involvement in Afghanistan, the command of the PRTs was transferred from the US forces to the forces of the nations under the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)….
Structure
A PRT includes a military component (Civil Affairs/Force Protection), aid agencies (such as USAID), civilian contractors (such as KBR), and civilian police advisors. The U.S. Department of State is the lead civilian agency within the PRTs, additionally, the United States Departments of Agriculture (FAS and USDA), Commerce (FCS), Health and Human Services (CDC), Justice (DOJ lawyers and FBI) and Transportation (FAA) have representatives working at the PRTs to assist in their respective areas.
Since October 5, 2006, the PRT’s are part of the NATO-led ISAF mission. At the next chapters we will try to give an account of the development of the PRT’s and their activities….
Locations and activities
Regional Command East/Combined Joint Task Force 76(US led)
Since October, 5, 2006, ISAF assumed also command of the PRTs at the east of the country. The HQ is at Bagram and led by the U.S….
…..[scroll down to bottom of list]…
PRT Panjshir
New U.S. led PRT, includes former US/South Korea Parwan PRT.”
cm #21:
Let’s just say I’m here to ameliorate your penchant for stupidity and what Plato said was the “root and stem of all evil” — ignorance — which you appear to have an abundance of.
H. Kim: You’re attacking a guy who agrees with you. CM was criticizing people who generalize all kyopos as Robert Kims. He was saying that it’s bad to do that, which is what you’re saying.
I understand if English is not your first language; I learn other languages myself. But try not to be so belligerent when you don’t understand something.
I can’t say I read a lot of Korean media, but is it normal to show a grieving family member in a photo?
http://english.chosun.com/w21d.....80013.html
It doesn’t seem necessary.
cuculus—Yes, it’s fairly common to see pictures of grieving families in the Korean press.
Fairly common? It almost seems a necessity as a means of proof to show that suffering is occurring. I’m not saying this practice is wrong, but it defintely is painful to watch. RIP.
cm
Posted January 18, 2007 at 4:24 am | Permalink
“How long did it take for this subject to predictably degenerate into another round of kyopo bashing? 4 posts to be exact. Kim’s point is not that there is a problem merely with the term itself, but the contempt behind it, which he and others are tired of. That contempt translates to standard replies to anything that the evil kyopo writes up.
Like this.
Really…considering this, do the actions of Robert Kim really seem that surprising?? Or that of any other kyopo poster on the entire internet? Once a kyopo…always a jealous hater of everything non-Korean (or at least those countries which are richer, more developed and more respected by the international community than Korea).
H.Kim’s points (valid or not, agree or not), are dismissed as just another rant of a racist kyopo.
Then what’s the point for H.Kim and others for posting here? They merely are going to be dismissed as kyopo fifth columnists anyways, so what’s the point? There is no point for any of the Kyopos to post here. So Kyopos you’re not welcomed, just go away. boo hoo too bad.”
H. Kim
Posted March 2, 2007 at 1:31 am | Permalink
cm #21:
And H.Kim, my, you’re really stuck up on terms for gyopos, aren’t you?
“Let’s just say I’m here to ameliorate your penchant for stupidity and what Plato said was the “root and stem of all evil” — ignorance — which you appear to have an abundance of.”
CM:
Maybe the episode above gives you a taste of what it is like being attacked by a racist, an experience only too common for us non-Asians in Korea - although in this case the perpetrator (who, on another blog, even recommended to me the purchase of a book which I, due to its racist content, could not legally import into my home country of Germany) was mistaken as to your ethnic origin and thus believed you to be “on the ennemy side”. What about Marmot taking some kind of action ?
And you, CM, care to join us in our fight against racism on all sides ?
“who, on another blog, even recommended to me the purchase of a book which I, due to its racist content, could not legally import into my home country of Germany”
Here the relevant link:
http://asiapages.wordpress.com...../#comments
LOL! Fanta, you really are a tool aren’t you? Where the hell did you get the idea that Cornel West’s “Race Matters” is a racist book banned in ‘Deutschland, Deutschland…’ of all places? Unbelievable. “Race Matters” is an anti-racism book, you lil’ fascist. Read the book and stop spouting your racist nonsense. And stop projecting on me your inability to come to terms with Korea.
H.Kim (#14) wrote:
“f) Koreans who are citizens or passport holders of other countries: Korean + (insert nationality here).”
The wording seems redundant. I believe that most nations issue passports only to citizens; hence, nearly all passport holders are citizens though no all citizens are passport holders.
Moreover, I would not describe many of the Korean-Americans or Korean-Canadians I know as “Koreans who are citizens of the US/Canada.” They are not Koreans but rather b>ethnic Koreans.
Very convincing argument, which I have no problem going along with, i.e., if you can correctly answer the following: How would you rightly describe yourself? “Asshole” or “ethnic Asshole”? Your call.
What manner of backside do you call a Korean American guy that consistently gets it wrong?
A Korean citizen that has permanent residency in another country can also be called a kyopo. I already schooled you on this over at the Asia Pages, and gave an example of a non citizen kyopo living in Canada.
As I said over there, if you cannot tell why this Korean is clearly stating that he is a Korean citizen and a kyopo residing in Canada, then you are not qualified to lecture people about word meanings.
You are also wrong about the Japanese definition of zainichi. Zainichi are not Korean-Japanese. They are Korean-Koreans that live in Japan.
Shakuhachi is one of those Asian wannabes who have nothing better to do but to spread misinformation, ignorance and chaos via the Internet. His so-called expertise on all-things Asian is limited to food and females, which makes him qualified to either write Asian-fusion restaurant reviews or juicy bar reviews. Anything else would be far above his purview. Nevertheless, I tend to agree with the following axiom:
“Arguing on the Internet is like winning the Special Olympics — even if you win, you’re stil retarded.”
And you, Hank, are still retarded.
Oh, have we met? I thought not.
That is quite a combination of straw man and ad hominem attack you wrote there, H. Kim. You are still wrong about the definition of kyopo and zainichi, and you should get your facts right before you refer to a lady as an asshole.
H.Kim wrote:
“Very convincing argument, which I have no problem going along with, i.e., if you can correctly answer the following: How would you rightly describe yourself? “Asshole” or “ethnic Asshole”? Your call.”
I guess H.Kim likes correcting other people’s language usage better than someone else correcting his, or do I detect an anti-expat chip on his shoulder?
H. Kim:
Stop.
Please. Just stop.
#37:
I had no idea that shakuhachi is a woman. My bad.
He was talking about your slur of Sonagi.
I think your slur of Shak was silly, too. His views may be upsetting, but he goes to the original language sources and does all the legwork. Hardly some dude who is slumming as you seem to suggest.
CM:
You seem to be a reasonable men with moderate views, open to bona fide arguments from all sides. I would imagine that now, after having read the comments above, you might see things differently from how you saw them on January 18th. Just a conjecture…
BTW:
Racially inflammatory literature, arguing that races in their entirety have certain qualities and are laking others, is banned in Germany - and this ban is being enforced quite rigorously.
On a lighter note, H. Kim, despite the fact that he seems to have lived in Germany for some time in the late 1980s, does not seem to know that the national anthem does not, since 1945, contain the words ‘Deutschland, Deutschland…’ any more, nor indeed anything similar. Instead the anthem states the importance of democracy and the rule of law.
That should have read:
Instead, the anthem stresses the importance of democracy and the rule of law.
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