U.S. and South Korean soldiers run a relay race during KATUSA Friendship Week at at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, on June 10, 2025. (Eric Mendiola/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — U.S. and South Korean soldiers recently celebrated their decades-long alliance during KATUSA Friendship Week at the largest U.S. military installation overseas.
The annual event — held this year June 9-13 — honors the Korean Augmentation to the United States Army program, which embeds South Korea soldiers into U.S. Army units during their mandatory military service.
KATUSAs serve alongside American troops in a variety of roles across South Korea, helping bridge cultural and operational gaps.
“They’re a huge help in everything we do,” Pfc. Alexion Thompson, a financial management technician with 125th Delta Company, said June 10 during a Friendship Week soccer match at the Balboni sports complex.
U.S. and South Korean soldiers play soccer during KATUSA Friendship Week at at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, on June 10, 2025. (Eric Mendiola/Stars and Stripes)
The weeklong celebration included sports competitions, a base-wide run and a Korean culture festival featuring traditional games, crafts and food.
Sgt. Min Jae Kim, a KATUSA who serves as a human resources specialist at Eighth Army headquarters, helped U.S. soldiers play traditional games such as ddakji, a paper-flipping game that some may recognize from the “Squid Game” series on Netflix.
“I feel like this really emphasizes our alliance between the U.S. and Korea,” Kim said at the culture festival on June 10.
U.S. soldiers play a traditional game of ddakji at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, on June 10, 2025, during KATUSA Friendship Week. (Eric Mendiola/Stars and Stripes)
The KATUSA program dates to August 1950, when it was created during the Korean War under a verbal agreement between Gen. Douglas MacArthur and South Korean President Syngman Rhee. Friendship Week began in 1977 and is now observed at installations across the peninsula.
The week concluded with a closing ceremony and relay race attended by units from across Eighth Army and its acting commander, Brig. Gen. Sean Crockett.
“We can’t do this without our KATUSAs. That is the purpose of this week — that’s what we celebrate: 75 years of this KATUSA program working, playing, God forbid fighting, hand in hand with us,” Crockett said. “They are absolutely critical to everything that we do.”
U.S. and South Korean soldiers run a relay race during KATUSA Friendship Week at at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, on June 10, 2025. (Eric Mendiola/Stars and Stripes)
