When U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump started accusing Seoul of getting a “free-ride” from Washington for its defense, many South Koreans reacted angrily, since they collectively pay nearly 1 trillion won ($865 million) each year for the upkeep of U.S. troops here. There were also concerns about the future of the security alliance.

For Kim Jong-wook, the chairman of the KATUSA Veterans Association, Trump’s remarks highlighted the sheer absence of robust voices at home and in the U.S. that could speak for the two countries’ need for the alliance.
And that is precisely the vision he envisages for the fledgling association, which set out as a miniscule social meeting in 2007 before evolving into a 9,000-strong government-registered fraternity in 2013.

Now the group is striving for the launch of what is set to be the largest Korea-U.S. veterans’ society in the U.S. this year, which could help shape the two countries’ defense policy, support the alliance and carry out community service.

“With former U.S. Forces Korea commanders being the pivot, it should be capable of raising voices on pressing issues, and I think it’s surely possible given their experience on the ground and also in policymaking,” Kim said in an interview Tuesday with The Korea Herald in Seoul.

“I regret that there was virtually no organization that could speak out with a united voice when Trump made the arguments. I believe veterans could have influence, especially if brought together in a society like America that has high respect for them.”

Kim, the chief executive and president of Swissport Korea Ltd., an Incheon-based cargo handler, himself served at KATUSA, or the Korean Augmentation Troops to the U.S. Army, from 1977 and 1979.

At the 2nd Infantry Division’s data center in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, he polished not only his English skills but computer and data processing expertise, which helped him land a job at the Busan Container Terminal Authority after his service.

“My days at KATUSA changed my career path and I benefited much from that. So I had always been thinking to give back to the U.S. Forces Korea and KATUSA through social service and alliance support programs,” he said.

Some 250,000 South Koreans are estimated to have served under the KATUSA since the 1950-53 Korean War. The association solely runs on fees from its 9,000 active members, which amount to an annual budget of nearly 150 million won.

Every June, the group holds a commemoration ceremony at the U.N. Memorial Cemetery in Busan and Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, calling the names of every KATUSA who fell during the battle.

The surviving veterans also take part in volunteer work at orphanages, deliver briquettes to the underprivileged on a regular basis and arrange social gatherings with United States Forces Korea leadership. They also give awards to outstanding conscripts at the KATUSA Training Academy in Camp Jackson in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province.

Kim pinned high hopes on the envisioned establishment of the Korea Defense Veterans Association, which would embrace retired and in-service USFK soldiers as well as those from the KATUSA.

The size of its membership remains to be seen, but it could be the largest-ever in the U.S. with ties to South Korea, given that some 3.5 million Americans have served here since the Korean War.

Walter Sharp, a former USFK commander from 2008-11, will chair the association and be joined by other ex-generals including Leon Laporte and James Thurman. Last month, Kim met with them in Washington to discuss the project, he said.

“We aim to collect the $500,000 required for the registration in the U.S. by the end of September and hold a formal inauguration ceremony at the end of the year,” Kim said.

“The veterans are valuable resources in light of the scale of the USFK, which is unmatched anywhere else outside the U.S., as they can help promote our interests. We need to actively make use of them, and the KVA would be the Seoul chapter for the KDVA.”

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)