|
|
|
|
Overview : It was not unusual to hear nice, intelligent Korean adults of all ages say as a major of fact, "GIs are never held to justice in Korea. They just fly away to American, and there is nothing we can do about it." Besides being accepted as gospel by Koreans of all ages, it was also taken as a given by Koreans of all stripe -- pro-American, anti-American, neutral, and non-political alike. What was hardest to accept about this conventional wisdom was that the seeds of information to the contrary of this myth were clearly available in their head. When you hear this wisdom about GI crimes, just ask the speaker to give you some examples to help you understand. If you press, they will tell you of a couple of infamous murders and other crimes. If you check, even if you press them for details, you will probably see that they do in fact know the GIs in these crimes were --- arrested by Koreans, put on trial by Koreans, and found guilty by Korean judges. Today, unlike when I was teaching Korean adults, the person telling you that GI Crimes, and Korea's inability to do anything about them, is one key reason Korean society is anti-USFK / US alliance can point to the 2002 Tank Accident/Murder and the 2000 Water Poisoning of 10 Million Seoul Citizens. You can read my review of those two cases and decide for yourself if they are great tragedies of justice that excuse the myth of "no" GIs "ever" facing "Korean justice." But, beyond those two cases, the examples of bastard GI Crimes Koreans have been able to tell me about have ALWAYS turned out to be examples that prove the exact opposite of what they desperately want to believe -- like the 1993 horrible Markle Murder Case. Markle still sits in a Korean prison to this day (Dec. 2005). The murder was brutal, but the GI was convicted, and in a Korean civilian criminal court, (something a Korean soldier criminal never faces, because they are always tried by the Korean military court system). To cut this short, I can easily show you how utterly preposterous the incredible bullshit of GI Crimes Myth is in Korea by noting a Dec. 2003 editorial in one of Korea's top media conglomerates that produce The Korean Times. Headline :
First Prosecution of US Soldier
It boggles the mind. How could a man paid a good salary, and having risen through the ranks as a journalist, not remember at least the most famous murders that led to convictions? In a word : Easily. It makes no sense. I had a few long time students who were with me through more than 1 well publicized GI Crimes - crimes in which we watched the criminal soldier get convicted in Korean court. But, when the new one rose, these same students still found they could say nothing but, "GIs are never held to justice in Korea. This will be the first time if the US government doesn't shield the soldier again...." It makes no sense. The only other time I've run across something so baffling is in the States with people who have racial prejudice and don't know it. I knew some people in high school who had one or two good friends they hung out with, invited to their home even, who were black, but they still found a way from time to time, when among white friends, that they "don't like black people." If you pressed them on it, they still couldn't get it.... It is that kind of mind block in Korea too. What I am offering in these pages is what I know about GI Crimes and what I have been able to find. The English language Korean newspapers have online archives that go back to 1998-99. Much of what I found comes from US media archives --- and keep in mind these papers don't spend much time on day to day things in South Korea beyond the geopolitical. It is a safe bet more GI Crimes came and went and were not covered by them at all. Whatever the case may be, it is undeniable the Myth of GI Crimes in Korea is unsupported and ultimately inexcusable. To think differently, you have to stretch out the hand of understanding Korean society beyond the bounds of normalcy.
|
Case File From : US(FK)A Crimes I covered this event, which was mega news in Korea in 1995-1996, as the 2nd half of a review of the 2002 Subway Case in which 3 GIs were mob attacked by an anti-US university student group, led by an ex-National Assembly member, where 1 GI was held captive and forced to participate in a massive anti-USFK rally. Here is the view that won the day in Korea and is still sited as a major example of how GIs get away with crime --- (even though they were convicted)
This is one of the not so frequent, but not unheard of, themes in GI Crimes -- one or more GIs out and about is "behaving badly" - so - one or more good citizen Koreans has no choice but to rebuke them to make them behave, and the GIs beat the hell out of them, causing other good citizens to help and resulting in arrests (of the GIs), trials, and convictions... Also, justification for physical contact on the part of the Korean can be made by saying, "He cursed at me." It was used in both subway cases in my long review noted above, and it was cited by students over the years when reading about GI street altercations. There is also a cultural difference at play : In the US, any type of aggressive bodily contact quickly escalates into fists being used. In Korea, it does not. It is not unusual late at night in bar districts to see very drunk Korean men, friends or perhaps strangers, fussing at each other to the point of even laying hands on one's shirt sleeve, arm, or other clothing -- then pushing and pulling on the person ----- with the result more often than not simply being the other drunk person putting his hands in his pants' pocket as a sign of defiance. It is even not unusual to see the Korean police that patrol the bar districts allow themselves to be manhandled by a drunk without responding in kind.
The Korean media had so blown this story up by the time I arrived in Korea not long after it occurred, my students (generally between 25-35 years of age) alternately described the GIs as raping/attempting to rape/sexually assaulting/sexually harassing the Korean female -- as if there were no difference between them. ---- This was not a language difference issue. They were simply so inflamed by the press, they saw no need to have different levels of anger based on the severity of the alleged act. It simply didn't matter if it were placing an arm around the woman's waist or trying to rape her...
This is not the accepted version, even in Korean society, unless he just skipped ahead. In the accepted version, the GIs started beating Mr. Cho in the subway and it spilled over once the train stopped. Here, it makes it sound like Mr. Cho was finished giving his verbal scolding and was attacked as he tried to leave with his back turned.
What this review fails to say is convicted criminal Mrs. Golina testified in court that SHE was the woman the brave Korean male was trying to save from the bastard GIs. She and the soldiers testified her HUSBAND had his arm around her waist when the Korean man approached and began cursing at the soldiers. When she explained to the man in Korean that they were married and the GI bastard was not bothering her... ...she said he spit on her and slapped her face for daring to be in a mixed marriage and showing affection in public (both of which were taboo in Korea at the time --- it was not unusual to see two men or two women holding hands in public as a sign of friendship, but it was unusual to see Koreans of the opposite sex doing so --- that had changed a whole lot by the late 1990s-early 2000s). Mr. Cho said it was another woman, but the prosecution could not produce anyone else to say they were the ones sexually harassed by the soldiers. But, both the husband AND WIFE were convicted. No Korean I have ever talked to who mentioned the case, or GI crimes and remembered the case, had ever heard about the wife's claims. I first heard about it from a Korean former journalist who writes editorial pieces for one of the English language newspapers ---- he said it was never reported in the Korean press.... This is the only case I've ever found or watched where I thought a GI was unjustly convicted. All the other cases led to GI convictions and the GIs seemed very guilty. |
Date
: 19 May 1995