Bar owners have promised to curb underage drinking, prostitution

By Franklin Fisher, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, September 2, 2005



PYEONGTAEK, South Korea — The Camp Humphreys commander has lifted a ban on the Ace Club, which he had put off-limits to U.S. servicemembers on Aug. 11, officials said Wednesday.

The club was one of 12 establishments Col. Michael J. Taliento Jr. put off-limits Aug. 11. The club was the last club to be removed from the off-limits ban. Camp Humphreys is in the Anjung-ri section of Pyeongtaek City.

Camp Humphreys officials have said Taliento placed the Ace Club off-limits after an Army Criminal Investigation Command agent allegedly paid for a female bar worker’s time, an act associated with prostitution and human trafficking.

The club owner denied the allegation.

Also put off-limits were 10 clubs and a convenience store, officials said. Taliento later lifted the ban on the first 11 businesses after owners specified in writing steps they would take to curb underage drinking at their businesses.

Taliento lifted the Ace Club ban after its owner promised to quit doing business with the “entertainment” agency that supplied the female bar worker in question, said Clarence F. Slawson, deputy to Taliento. He identified the business as the “Vandy agency.”

Kim Ki-ho, Anjung-ri Merchants Association president, said the association’s member merchants no longer would hire workers supplied by the Vandy agency or otherwise do business with it.

Stars and Stripes was unable to contact the agency Wednesday.

Ace Club owner Kang Bo-mi said Vandy provided her club with six female employees from the Philippines.

The woman involved in the alleged prostitution incident was a 22-year-old hired through Vandy, Kang said.

“She came here as a singer and then she talked to soldiers and basically entertained them.”

Kang said she had no direct knowledge of any prostitution or human trafficking offenses at the club and doubted the alleged incident occurred. She said she takes strong measures within the club to preclude such occurrences.

However, she said, she agreed to fire the employees and sever business ties with Vandy to keep her business operating.

“I just need to save my club, that’s all,” Kang said.

Taliento’s ban opened a tense chapter between Camp Humphreys and the local merchants, who, after learning of it, hung a banner in the businesses district reading, “Col. Michael A. Taliento Jr., You go back to Afghanistan again.”

When Taliento lifted the ban on the first seven of the 12 businesses on Aug. 19, merchants brought out a new set of banners telling Taliento “We love you,” Kim said.

The banners were a kind of peace offering to Taliento, Kim said.

With all 12 businesses now out of off-limits status, Slawson was asked whether the rough chapter between Camp Humphreys and the merchants was closed.

“We sincerely hope so,” he said.

Nothing really changes does it? He that is without sin, throw the first stone...
Then Rodney King said, "Why can't we all get along...."
"Yankee go home...." The banner said, "We love you."
"And crown Thy good, with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea."

Within sight of this military post, we have succeeded in imposing U.S. morals on a part of the population whose businesses depend on us for their livelihood. We have sort of "sanitized" a few square miles. For a while. Congratulations!
If we could only clean up the drinking water, force them to wash glasses in hot water, using soap, provide toilet paper, and wash their hands before serving food, and refrigerate meat, and use a different rag for cleaning the table than for the floor, we might get a good thing going! Town Patrol, OK! Environmental Health Patrol, where are you? Be careful out there!

That's the problem. The club owners know what the contracts say, but still violate them. When questioned by authorities they simply say I didn't know that she was trying to sell herself, when in fact the entire time the club owners are the ones having meetings with the girls after work and yelling at them pushing them to ask for barfines from the customers. Then of course the authorities say "o.k." and leave it alone. The girls are too afraid to rat out the clubs because they'll get restricted worse or beaten or even raped by club owner friends or employees. Sometimes they'll even send them back to the phillipines with no money to their names and noway to get their home, only a ticket to Manila.

Most people say it's highly unlikely that the girls don't know what they're getting into, but think about it. Do you know everything that goes on in your hometown or in the United States. NO!!!!!!!! Fact is that most people are so ashamed of what happens that they don't want others to think bad of them or just keep it secretly to themselves and let others to believe that they are singing or playing in a band.

If you ever listened to the old school dudes, prostitution, blackmarketing, etc has been going on since 1953. I gather sometime around 1980 SOFA appeared and has been a shady deal for the most part compared to Germany's version. What's puzzles them is the use of Russian and Fillipian woen, they can'tfigure out why and how and not Korean women. Just one conversation to avoid I guess. One brought up a point has to how command will enforce a well entrenched practice since the only things new are the players and the date. Very intersting conversations I must say. I was amazed how open they were and seemed willing to tell their stories.

I was wonder alos if anyone knows of a website that has this debate or more information about this, other than a DA site.

Thank you for joining our Forum! We appreciate your comments, and hope you will stay with us a while. I see this is your first post! Congratulations!

I'm not sure we are a "DA" site if that means Army? Actually there is NO affiliation, implied approval or official connection with US Forces Korea.

True, a lot of contributors appear to be connected, in one way or another, with the US military community. Actually we have no way to determine whether a person is actually what he/she purports to be! There is no requirement when signing up to put anything in your biography. We don't really need to know where you live or who you are. (I think it would be interesting if everyone volunteered a few details, though, don't you?)

All are welcome! We have some school teachers writing here, and I personally love to read their stories on their blogs, and their words here!
We also have Koreans and Canadians, and some from other countries, even Iceland.

Your question re another website where similar discussions take place, I am at a loss, except to click on the " LINKS" which you will find in the blue heading at the top of every page in the Forum. I believe you will find that we are the best, and most open on discussions like the girls, etc.

I'd like to add for discussion, and fun, a possible reason for some English speaking guys showing a preference for Russian or Filipino ladies. The Filipinos speak much better English, as they were required to learn it in school! The Russians may also, I don't know, but their advantage may includes their exterior features, which include facial features that more approximate those of American or European women. Now I must add that I think beauty is a personal thing, and I love them all! (To me, a truly beautiful woman doesn't need to speak at all! I could get my point across by sign language!) If conversation in a bar is an important part of the picture, the Korean women are often at a disadvantage, because, in general, they are handicapped by a school system that, until recently, did nothing for them in preparing them to speak English.

Sorry I got carried away! Perhaps another member will be able to answer you better, but they can't give you a warmer welcome!

Here is my question. why can these people who are spose to be mature enough to protect there country, to carry dangereus weapons. to repersent there country in other countries not mature enough to know to follow the law not to drink underage?

course the other question would be, why if there allowed to die for there questions are they not allowed to drink?

__________________

The problem is that these YOUNG kids have never been away from home, they are drawn down into a depression and they see the only way out, to make the time go by is for it to appear faster is to drink, of age or not.


IMO
If we cannot trust these young men and woman to follow a order (not even a military order) to not drink then how can we trust them when it comes to that point where they might die in battle when told what to do?

__________________
CH-47 SI

They must find it difficult...

Those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority. --Gerald Massey

Hold up now. I don't mean to start any type of arguement, but this pisses me off. Are you military? Have you ever been asked to defend a country that isn't yours cuz your government feels it necessary. I am, I JUST got back from a year in Iraq, I was sent there from korea where I had to leave my woman and son just to return to the states after Iraq. I have alot of good soldiers that DO EXACTLY what is expected of them and they're trained to do in order to keep others alive and themselves. With little or now gratitude except people like yourself giving them crap for drinking under age. Have you never done anything wrong? Highly unlikely, so who are you to judge. Try putting your ass in the front line with RPG's and AK rounds flying all around you for another country and then tell those young troops that they can't drink cuz they're not 21. People like yourself have no understanding.
I apologize to the moderator of the group and forrum, but that just hit a little too close to home.

We all appreciate your service.
I understand your frustration. Many of us have been asked to fight for our country, and wonder why that doesn't give us a right to drink.

But the fact remains:whether the previous poster is military or not, or if he or she has been where you have been or done what you have done, has no bearing on his/her right to an opinion.

It is common to believe that if you are old enough to fight and die for your country, you are old enough to drink. Being a common belief is not enough.

When you raised your right hand, and promised to defend your country, there was no line that stated that underage men or women, often immature and inexperienced in "Drinking" were automatically now allowed or expected to be mature enough to become intoxicated in public, disgrace the uniform, act like fools in a foreign country, bite, kick, resist arrest, and curse the national police of an allied nation, as happened in Seoul last week!

No one should think that they are above the law.

First off young man, before you go spouting off at the mouth you should maybe think about who you may be talking to before posting a stupid post like that.

First I HAVE been on the front lines with RPG's flying around, I have lost 11 personal friends in 1 CHINOOK crash (yes all at the same time) so don't go off telling me that I DON'T know something. I was also in the 1st desert storm so I feel that I DO have the experience to talk about WHAT EVER I want to, especially when it comes to the younger people in the Army.

Oh yeah, by the way, I am in Korea also, away from my family also. So are a lot of my other friends who just came back from the over there. Guess what- most of them are leaving and going back to the states and going back to Iraq within 5 months.

It's attitudes like yours in the younger junior enlisted ranks that think they know everything and should be able to do anything, just because they are away from their family. You're not the only one away from their family. Your are not the only one who has been over there.

That attitude you bring is the exact reason why E-6's and below have so many restrictions on us over here in Korea; youngs kids get stupid and go out and drink (underage) and get in fights and think that they have been over there so they are better than everyone else.

Just so you know, I have 2 years till I retire. So again, I do feel that I can talk about what ever I want.

__________________
CH-47 SI

They must find it difficult...

Those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority. --Gerald Massey