YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea - Ten more clubs and bars were placed off limits by U.S. Forces Korea as of Wednesday, according to USFK officials.
Most of the bars are in the Itaewon neighborhood outside Seoul?s Yongsan Garrison. They were banned because of prostitution and human trafficking concerns, according to the USFK Web site.
One spot, Club Paradise in Kunsan, was banned due to force protection issues.
After September 2001, USFK began banning bars and clubs that allowed backpacks but did not check them. Other restrictions have irked business owners in areas frequented by servicemembers, but most owners have had little choice but to work with those regulations or lose business.
Joint Army Regulation 190-24 governs off-limits rules for all military branches, a 2nd Infantry Division spokeswoman said Friday.
The regulation places responsibility on commanders to form disciplinary control boards with representation from various base services.
The boards have wide discretion to decree that a bar or club has ?undesirable conditions that may adversely affect members of the military or their families.
A person whose establishment has been declared off-limits may petition the control board’s president to remove the restriction.
The regulation requires that substantive information be required to place an establishment off-limits. It is essential that boards do not act arbitrarily, the document states.
Off-limits
As of Wednesday, the following areas had clubs placed off-limits during the past 30 days for these concerns:
Bosandong Ville near Camp Casey: Club Liberty, health and safety.
Itaewon near Yongsan Garrison: First Class Club, Mississippi, Oasis Club #13, Oasis Club #26 and Pretty Ketty, all for prostitution.
Anjung-ri near Camp Humphreys: Ace Club; no details were available.
Songtan near Camp Humphreys: Geckos Bar; no details were available.
Near Kunsan Air Base: Club Paradise, force protection; and The Boss, for which no details were available.