Korean Job Discussion Forums

[PeterDragon]

Okay, this is yet another thread tangentially related to the two I just posted. (I've decided to turn my quest for rolled oats into a fact finding mission about black market stuff....)

Does anyone know if Camp Humphreys has an off-post black market that civilians can access to get American food and such? Actually a number of my Korean co-workers who really like American cheese have also been asking me this. (My town is almost two hours away form the nearest costco, but 40 minutes away from Humphreys/Anjung-ri....)

[CentralCali]

If I were to buy stuff from the black markets*, I certainly wouldn't buy foodstuffs. A fairly recent case involved the South Korean authorities arresting a couple of Koreans employed by AAFES or DeCA. One of the more troubling bits of that news is that they foodstuffs being sold were beyond their expiration dates.

Why not just go to Home plus or E-Mart or one of the other big grocery store outfits? I've seen Quaker Oats at Home plus. So you pay a few pennies more. Isn't your health worth it?

*I'm retired military so I shop on base for my stuff.

[rD.NaTas]

there is an online ordering company for costco that will ship to your door...takes less then 2 days once the money order (credit card) goes thru, they got sour cream , kettle chips , spices , rolled oats candy other randomz and they ship all over SK
http://www.ezshopkorea.com/

[marmotkorea]

[CentralCali]

Gaya, across the street from the computer shopping complex, in Busan.

[NightSky]

[CentralCali]

The thing with the expired foodstuffs from the bases being sold via the black markets is that you don't know which particular group of expired foodstuffs you're dealing with. There are two groups.

The first group consists of those itmes which have been examined by a veterinarian (yes, that's part of a vet's job) and determined to be fit for human consumption. Those are placed on shelves indicating that fact and are sold at a discounted price.

The second group consists of those items which have been examined by a veterinarian and determined to be unfit for human consumption. These items are supposed to be destroyed and a report indicating such destruction is then submitted to the appropriate authorities (DeCA, AAFES, Medical Command).

Part of the problem with the black market goods is that the items determined to be unfit for human consumption were falsely reported as destroyed and then diverted for illegal resale. Of course, there are cases of employees and others simply stealing stuff that's still well within the expiration period and then resaling the stuff illegally. That's the major reason the mini-mart at Pusan Storage Facility was closed permanently a few years ago: thieving employees.

Now, consider if you want to get caught up in a crackdown all to get a price break on possibly expired goods. I really don't think that a lousy two thousand won is worth losing my job.

[lastat06513]

There isn't one near Cp. Humphreys, but there is one near Osan's main gate in Songtan.