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
Washington Should Respect Seoul's Decision for Ties

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.   

The Case

This was a well publicized case that occurred while the memory of the 2 dead middle school girls was fresh on everyone's mind.  It was also the case where the Korea Times editor gave me a quote I can use to easily show how full of shit South Korean society is on the issue of GI Crimes (see overview to the left).

First report - the complete article

Korean police on Friday apprehended a U.S. enlisted soldier who is suspected of running away after causing a fatal car accident in Osan, Kyonggi-do.

At least one person was killed and four injured in the accident.

According to eyewitnesses, a Sonata sedan driven by the U.S. soldier carrying two foreigners and one Korean hit the left side of a Visto subcompact at an intersection at 10 minutes after midnight on Friday.

The soldier ran away but Korean police and U.S. military police arrested him at his base five hours later.

Police said that he admitted to driving the Sonata.

Under the current ROK-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, police said, Korea has primary jurisdiction over the suspect in this hit-and-run case and is empowered to call him in for questioning after handing
him over to U.S. authorities.

Note on possible trial

The new accord calls for the transfer of U.S. servicemen accused of committing serious crimes like murder and rape to Korean authorities at the time of indictment. Under the old regulations, U.S. soldiers
were handed over to Korean authorities only after they were convicted in the Korean courts.

The common complaint has always been, when you can get a Korean talking about the subject to admit GIs are often held for trial by Korean courts, that it is "virtually impossible" to get a conviction since the US gets to hold the criminals until the trial is over or it starts or now until indictment.  This might work -- if I had ever found a case where a GI was found not guilty in a Korean civilian criminal court (something a Korean soldier never faces even for murder).

The reporting on this case was fair, but it was also full of minor bullshit things that do add up.  For example:

After the accident, he deserted his car and ran away only to be caught by U.S. military police days later.

How did "5 hours" in the first report become "days"?

Another example of mixing a more fair reporting of this event with the bullshit:

"They could have very easily refused to present their soldier for the summons by the prosecution and they could also have refused to investigate their American witnesses who were riding in the vehicle,"
Kwon said.

If the Korean prosecution would have talked like this in 2002, or if the press had printed it, how much could have been different?  Because, USFK has routinely brought suspects to be questioned by Korean authorities for many, many years.  -- And soldiers have been convicted - for decades.

Kwon also blamed the media for directing the public opinion against the USFK.

"The USFK’s asking us (the Justice Ministry) to waive our jurisdiction over their soldier is just a customary procedure which they take in every little case," he said.

If the suspected U.S. soldier is transferred to the South Korean authorities and successfully indicted, he will be the first active U.S. soldier to be tried and arrested by the South Korean court since the revision of SOFA in 2001, according to Kwon.

This is factually wrong.  He was not the first soldier handled by the Korean justice system under the revised SOFA nor the first convicted ever (which the Korea Times editor claimed in an editorial about this case).

Another example:

If the U.S. serviceman is transferred and indicted in a South Korean court, it will mark the first time for a U.S. soldier to be arrested by a South Korean court in relation to off-duty crimes.

The first time 2 US soldiers were convicted of a crime by a Korean court was in 1967!!

The Justice Ministry also announced that the USFK has already paid the victim’s family a total of 11.49 million won ($9,500) for funeral expenses. Revisions require the U.S. armed forces to pay indemnities to South Korean victims before a court ruling is made on the suspected U.S. serviceman.

USFK has long routinely given the Korean customary "small bereavement money" as soon as events occur - saying such an action does not admit guilt or legal responsibility.  In 2002, such money was given the day of the tank accident.  A monetary, legal, settlement was reached within a month.  Donations on base raised money to build a monument on the accident site.  And a candlelight vigil was held 7 days after the accident with VIPs from both governments. -- None of this was reported in the Korean press (in 2002).

USFK Commander Apologizes

“On behalf of the men and women serving in the USFK, we express our sincere sorrow for the tragic and untimely death of Kee Kyeong-sun,” LaPorte said in a press release.

Unlike with the tank accident of 2002, the Times did not add that the commander was most likely apologizing only to avoid a spike in anti-US activity.

The press, at least English versions, did not play up the anti-US groups as they usually do, though some notes were put in - and I think that is good journalism: the anti-US groups have a voice to be heard.  I just wish USFK were given such a voice too.

Officials of the Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea (SPARK) and National Campaign for Eradication of Crimes by USFK (NCEC) urged the Justice Ministry to help law enforcement authorities to take into custody Onken.

"If the suspect had been a Korean, he would've been arrested a long time ago. This undermines not only the South Korean judicial branch's authority, but also the nation's sovereignty," Lee Hyong-soo, a SPARK staff member, told The Korea Times. SPARK is working to eradicate crimes committed by U.S. soldiers in Korea.

37,000 soldiers and just as many civilian contractors - along with many thousands of Korean base workers ---- good luck - I'd like to know if you just have success stopping all Koreans connected with USFK from committing crimes --- assholes...

"We first read in a Stars and Stripes (a U.S. military newspaper) report that Onken was free to walk around on base. We called the Public Relations Office and one of the officials confirmed that it was true,"
Lee said.

The official argued the South Korean government was too busy trying to be on good terms with the USFK and that officials were willing to let the incident go.

Bail or being released before trial is not alien to the Korean system.

USFK is not given a single space to voice itself in this article.

Outcome - so far -

An American soldier was sentenced to three years in jail Thursday for a hit-and-run accident which resulted in the death of a South Korean woman.

An appeal could shorting the sentence

"Onken has deeply apologized for his actions, but we decided to appeal as a three-year sentence is too harsh," said Park Son-ki, lawyer for the defendant.

"Even if a person dies in a alcohol-related traffic accident, there are cases where the accused are given a suspended prison term if there is no chance the defendant will flee the country,’’ Park said, adding
that procedures for compensation for the victims are currently in progress.

Civic groups meanwhile viewed that the three-year sentence is too light, considering the circumstances of the case.

"Although we welcome that the GI has received a prison sentence, it is unfavorable that the term was reduced," said Lee So-hee, secretary-general of the National Campaign for Eradication of Crime by
U.S. Troops in Korea.

This is better - in that both sides are given a voice.

In the Korean system, if the suspect comes to an unofficial monetary settlement with the family of the victims, or the victim if still alive, it often reduces the terms of the prison sentence.

GI convicted in fatal accident seeks reduced sentence

At the same hearing Wednesday, prosecutors asked to increase the original sentence to five years, saying Onken has not reached an agreement with the victim’s family on compensation.

The father said Onken has not paid compensation but Park said the U.S. government has indicated it will pay a claim after approval from the South Korean government. The victim’s family has received about $100,000 from the company insuring the car in which she rode but Onken’s car was uninsured, Park said.

More Stars and Stripes Coverage

Police: Sergeant legally drunk after fatal crash

S. Korea still pondering hit-and-run case

South Korea typically defers jurisdiction to the military except in high-profile cases. According to U.S. Forces Korea, more than 5 percent of the 392 crimes service members committed in South Korea in 2002 comprised traffic accidents. South Korea authorities had the right to prosecute in 300 of those cases but elected to take just 20 of them, according to USFK.

S. Korea may take pretrial custody of Army sergeant

GI awaits transfer to S. Korean custody

Originally, the U.S. military asked to try Onken; the South Koreans denied that request.

Thus showing whose court the ball is in.

S. Korea takes custody of soldier accused in fatal accident

Prosecutor seeking five-year prison term for Onken

Soldier gets 3 years for drunken-driving fatality

Court hears testimony in Onken appeal

Court upholds Onken verdict