U.S. troops rejoice — the midnight curfew for service members in South Korea has been temporarily suspended, as command evaluates if you can be trusted to not act like wild animals in the streets of Pyeongtaek.
- The suspension of the curfew will last 90 days, starting Monday and going until September 17th. At the end of those 90 days, U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. Robert Abrams will evaluate to decide if the suspension should be continued, rescinded, or made permanent, USFK said in the announcement.
- According to USFK, the assessment “will focus on service member behavior, morale, and readiness factors.”
- The curfew had previously been rescinded in 2010, Stars and Stripes reports, but it was reimposed after “two high-profile rape cases involving American soldiers.” The decision to suspend the curfew again aims to make South Korea a “more attractive assignment.”
- “I actually didn’t believe it,” Sgt. Akeyla Richardson, with the 563rd Medical Logistics Company, told Stars and Stripes. “When I first heard, I thought there is no way, people out here are too crazy. Now that is has finally happened, I just hope no one messes it up for the rest of us.”