YONGSAN GARRISON — U.S. military officials are working with South Korean officials to better understand details leading to local police accusations that a South Korean woman escorted almost 200 people onto Yongsan Garrison more than 900 times the past three years so they could gamble.
The 48-year-old woman was jailed on charges that she violated South Korean law by exchanging foreign currency without proper government approval. Chief Detective Jang Sung-yoon of the foreign affairs section of the Seoul police said the police found a bank account in her name with about $1.2 million.
The woman, identified by Seoul police authorities only by her last name, Kim, charged each person almost $30 for entrance to Yongsan, according to the South Korean police. Most of the people then went to gaming rooms on base to play computer slot machines, according to Jang.
On Thursday, Jang refused to name the organization whose membership permitted Kim access to Yongsan Garrison. Earlier in the week, Jang told Stars and Stripes the woman used a pass obtained through her membership in the Korean-American Association; on Wednesday, however, he said that was not the case.
The woman used a valid identification card to get onto Yongsan, a U.S. Forces Korea spokesman said Thursday, but provided no further details.
Jang also said police believe most of Kim’s clients used the access to Yongsan to gamble. The status of forces agreement between the United States and South Korea forbids anyone without SOFA status from being in on-post slot machine rooms.
The woman faces no charges from South Korean authorities related to accusations she helped 178 people onto Yongsan so they could gamble.
USFK spokesman David Oten said military officials constantly monitor gate access throughout the peninsula.
“We are continuously reviewing our post access policies, both formally and informally, seeking to balance access by legitimate business and community leaders with our own regulations, Korean law and security needs,” Oten said in a written response to questions.
“Entering post for the purpose of facilitating gambling by an unauthorized person is a violation of USFK access policies and Korean law,” Oten wrote. “We take all allegations of wrongful access very seriously. USFK Provost Marshal is cooperating fully with KNP to assist in their investigation. It would be inappropriate to speculate on the outcome of that investigation. We regret that a single individual may have abused their access to facilitate illegal activities.”
Hwang Hae-rym contributed to this article.
