There has been another taxi cab related incident but this time this incident is a little bit different from what we usually see:
AAFES officials have taken disciplinary action against an Osan Air Base cab driver who appears in an online video making sexual comments and gestures and shouting profanity out the window while driving on base.
The driver, Lee Keun-rok, 48, also appears in a second video in which he jokes with passengers about using cocaine and heroin.
Each YouTube video was filmed inside a moving taxi on base by American passengers who laughingly encourage Lee’s statements.
Lee is a driver with the Hae Gang taxi service, which operates cabs on Osan Air Base under contract with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service.
He has been placed on administrative leave pending further investigation, AAFES spokesman Master Sgt. Donovan K. Potter said. [Stars & Stripes]
Here is the video that the article is referring to (NSFW):
It is pretty clear that the taxi driver Lee Keun-rok who is known as "Playboy" on Osan Airbase is just joking around with the soldiers. You can see the same thing in this video (also NSFW) )where he admits to drug use:
I don’t think the guy should be fired because he is obviously being encouraged by the people in the taxi and it is not even clear if he even understands all the things the servicemembers are telling him to say. Lee admits he plays along solely to get larger tips from his passengers. I have seen other taxi cab drivers doing nearly the same thing, but not quite as obnoxious as Lee.
It seems like an ass chewing and a suspension would be the way to go with this. If Korean employees that trespassed into a high security area on Osan Airbase are allowed to keep their jobs then how can you fire Playboy for cursing while being encouraged by his passengers? I do have to say that the people who put this video YouTube are a bunch of dopes though. What purpose did putting this video on the Internet serve?
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I’d much rather see some Osan taxi drivers fired over repeated traffic violations, but of course the SPs would actually have to be giving out traffic tickets for that to occur.
[…] This is just dumb. […]
In this situation, however, it’s all about personal responsibility.
So… just why is it that Osan and Stars & Stripes make a big deal of this yet refuse to publish an article on how to avoid getting ripped off by your scummy Korean landlord?
In his mind he is just providing customer service - give the customer what they want. I understand that Mr. Lee grew up in the Songtan area in an extremely poor, but good family. Taking away this man’s ability to earn a living would be wrong.
On the other hand, the taxi driver is not a child, he is an adult, and as such, is responsible for his behavior. Korea is NOT a 3rd world backwater where the natives have never seen a television or toaster oven. He really SHOULD have known better than to behave that way when he knew he was being recorded….
Should he be fired? Naw. Should he have some sort of reprimand? Absolutely. So should the GIs involved, for behavior unbecoming to the human race…..
But like I said before I don’t think he should be fired for it though. He should be punished in some way though for violating whatever professionalism standards the taxi company has though. That is why I’m saying give him a reprimand and a short suspension would probably be sufficient.
As far as the servicemembers who put this on YouTube like I said before they are dopes. However, I’m not sure if there is any legal consequences though for loading these videos on YouTube. Any JAGs or lawyers out there reading this feel free to weigh in on this.
maybe not the best idea but certainly not punishable unless they recorded areas of the base they shouldnt have
all in all an embarassing situation for all involved!!
GI’s did it, so its OK for the AAFES cab driver to do that on the job? If the GI’s are drunk in the taxi, does that mean he should get drunk and drive.
I, for one, am REAL HAPPY he is out of a job. YOUR FIRED!! LOL
“act like any other normal GI’s in Korea”
Maybe its normal for Koreans, but not normal for American or GI’s. Tom, you seem to really hate Americans, are you Korean?
Maybe to koreans this guy was “bob hope” ,LOL, but in my opinion, he was just insuling the Americans. he will be in front of Yongsan protesting next week.
Everyone has different methods in trying to add values to provide quality service… and I think that he was just trying to entertain his customers in his own way.
I hope they end this with just a warning.
“Yo GI Korea… I am curious… Just how much money are you gettin paid from the Japs for all your hard work in slandering South Korea? And I am being real serious here.”
Dada, how can a anybody take a racist fool like you seriously?
This jerk needs to get fired. But because he is Korean you can count on him protesting the americans for the rest of his life, even though it is his company and not the americans who make the final decision.
Koreans take take and take from the americans. They are so used to it, that they think the americans owe them. This jerk was making fun of american culture by pretending to be a drug user, like his image of americans. Fire him. I would love to see him in a soup line.
I hope he loses his job, becuase I think he was trying to insult the Americans. Some of the Americans don’t get it, but he was really calling the Americans druggies. Just like going up to a black guy, and acting like he was a rapper or gangsa.
[…] Forget the Osan Playboy, these people are idiots: Osan authorities have counseled two members of a group of Air Force police officers who appear — in uniform and on duty — in online videos that contain obscene language and song lyrics that express hostility toward certain racial and religious groups. […]