By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Walter Sharp imposed a stricter one-day curfew on his servicemembers here Friday as part of a program to help combat an off-post increase in the number of crimes since the later weekend curfew began last August.
The commander announced a 10 p.m. curfew and a four-hour ``Stand Down for Standards'' training session on behavior issues, USFK officials said.
Topics to be covered during the training session will include sexual-assault prevention and reporting, gangs in the military, the wingman/battle-buddy concept, prostitution, human trafficking and leadership responsibilities, they said.
``This action is not meant to punish any of our servicemembers who are acting appropriately and doing the right thing,'' Sharp said in a message posted on his command's Web site. ``This stand down is intended to correct a trend that is unacceptable and if not corrected could lead to a serious incident that would adversely impact you, your service and our alliance.''
In the message, Sharp said there has been a steady rise in sexual assaults and other crimes committed by U.S. soldiers here since last August, when a relaxed curfew was put in effect.
Under the current curfew, soldiers are required to be on post from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and U.S.-observed holidays. The previous weekend curfew was 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.
``This is unacceptable and we must act now to correct this trend,'' Sharp wrote, saying he might reinstate a tougher curfew policy unless the trend is corrected. He didn't cite specific data on the number of incidents.
About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Korea.