This post is for all the hypocrites in Korea complaining about the big, bad, unfair SOFA agreement. Here is an excerpt from the Stars and Stripes from recent Uijongbu court proceedings regarding two accused GIs:

The 2ID international law representative has asked the Korean defense attorney in these cases to request a new translator for the next hearings, the e-mail stated. ¿If the Korean defense attorney, who is fluent in English, feels the soldiers¿ rights have been violated, he can reopen the case at the next scheduled hearings.

Jin did not return repeated calls to his office Wednesday afternoon.

During Wednesday¿s testimony, a Stars and Stripes translator heard the judge ask both soldiers, separately, whether they admitted to various aspects of their cases. The court translators, however, asked the soldiers only whether they were aware of those aspects. The soldiers answered yes to nearly every question.

U.S. Forces Korea personnel did not answer queries on what legal assistance the military provides its troops when they end up in the Korean legal system, whether the military can take any action if legal services are inadequate, and whether USFK has had translator problems in the past.

How’s that for Korean justice for you?

One of the soldiers is from this recent infamous case of taxi cab theft when the GI and his friends were fleeing a Korean mob beating the hell out them and one of the soldiers decided to hijack a taxi to get away. This is the punishment Acosta is looking at for his taxi cab hijinks:

Acosta is charged with assault, illegal use of a vehicle, property damage, drunken driving and driving without a license in connection with an April 15 fight outside a Dongducheon bar. Prosecutors are seeking an 18-month jail sentence.

I’m sorry that it happened, Acosta told the court. I wish I could take it back. I just want to move on with my career.

Here is the story about the other GI in hot water:

Bohman is charged with assault in connection with his attempt to visit his girlfriend at a bar that hadn’t opened yet for the evening. He admitted in court to pushing the bar owner after the owner grabbed him, and to running from the scene.

Officials said at least one of the 10 Korean men who gave chase was injured trying to catch Bohman.

Bohman testified that he didn¿t remember whether the men hit him when they finally dragged him to the ground.

I don’t have a solid memory, he said. I don’t know for sure if they hit me.

He admitted biting one man to prevent the man from hitting him.

I was just trying to get away, he told the judge.

The prosecution asked the judge for a one-year prison sentence for Bohman.

Now take a look at how much money these soldiers have already paid before even being convicted of anything:

Acosta has paid more than $9,000 in settlements to South Koreans involved with the case, while Bohman has paid more than $18,000. Financial settlements are a common practice in the Korean justice system and usually lessen potential sentences.

So one kid who got the crap beaten out of him by a mob including get hit across the face with a pipe has paid $9,000 in compensation money and is looking at 18 months in Korean jail, while another GI whose sole crime was pushing a bar owner after being grabbed first by the bar owner, and he then proceeded to get the crap beaten out him by a Korean mob and the GI has since paid $18,000 in compensation money and is looking at a year in Korean jail for that push.

Now what about the Koreans involved in these incidents? Surely they would be looking at some serious punishment like these GI’s right? Hell no, in fact only one of the people involved with the Acosta mob beating received any punishment which was a $2,000 fine and this Korean guy hit the GI across the head with a metal bar. Below is the picture:

However, the $2,000 fine wasn’t really punishment because of all the money Acosta had to pay the Korean, so at the end of the day, the Korean assaulter made money from the incident while Acosta is looking at going to jail. This is really nothing new because Koreans have long been able to rape, assault, kidnap and even force US GIs to make coerced statements on national TV with impunity while at the same time claiming US GI’s hide behind the SOFA agreement and fly away to America to escape Korean justice. The truth is that the US has been giving GIs to the Korean courts to face justice all the way back to the 1960′s, while US GI’s have yet to receive justice from Korean courts in many cases for crimes committed against them. The SOFA Agreement myth is still widely believed by many Koreans while on the other hand very few Koreans know about or care about the crimes committed by Koreans on US GIs. I guess it doesn’t help when the Korean media perpetuates the myths with blatant lies about soldiers escaping Korean justice by hiding behind the SOFA.

I’m not saying the two GI’s in question shouldn’t be punished, but the punishment they are looking at is excessive in my opinion compared to similar situations I have personally witnessed Koreans commit crimes and they received no punishment. I have blogged before about taxi cab drivers trying to provoke incidents including shoving soldiers in order to create incidents. When is Korean justice going to hold these people accountable for anything? Heck if the GI is going to jail for a year for shoving a bar owner, than half of Korea should be in jail as well with all the fights I have seen between drunk ajushis. Just sit back and ask yourself, if Koreans committed these crimes, what punishment would they get?

The truth is Korean justice is not about justice; it is about extortion and appeasement. The extortion is the “blood money” payments to the “victims” and the appeasement is the fear of the anti-US groups in Korea. The truth is that no Korean judge could find a GI innocent especially in a high profile case and not be condemned and trashed as a traitor and lackey of the US by the anti-US hate groups in Korea. Korean pride triumphs justice. When has a US GI ever been found innocent in a Korean court? I do not know of one time when a US GI was found innocent. If you know of a time when a US GI was found innocent in Korean court I would really like to know because I sure haven’t seen it. Then on the other hand when has somebody been found guilty of a crime committed against a US GI and sent to jail?

There are obviously times when cases such as the recent “Stuff ‘em in Trunk Gang” where the GIs are obviously guilty with little extenuating circumstances that I have no sympathy for, but often incidents that go to Korean court where there are many extenuating circumstances get treated the same as if these guys were hardened thugs like the “Stuff ‘em in the Trunk” gang.

So which side is really suffering from the big, bad, unfair SOFA Agreement? It surely isn’t the Koreans.

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