This comment by DMZ Dave provides a perfect example that justice for American servicemembers in Korea remains little changed over the years:
As a new contributor to this blog, I apologize for this long post but believe I can provide some additional perspective.
Although I had spent years in Korea and speak Korean fluently having graduated from the Korean Army College, it wasn’t until I entered the “Twilight Zone” of a false accusation and in police custody at the Itaewon Police Box that I received my post-graduate education in Korean justice.
The year was 1989, on this particular evening, I had just left the UN Compound and was about to pull out from some apartments near Itaewon heading up the hill to the main road at the Burger King intersection. As I sat in my car waiting to make a left turn onto the street, I observed two young girls holding hands and preparing to run across the busy street and I thought it looked like a bad situation. As I watched, to my horror, the girls suddenly dashed into the street, were struck by a taxi and thrown to the side of the road. The taxi sped on without looking back.
I jumped out of my car, ran to the girls, checked them for injuries (I started my military career as a Navy Corpsman) picked one up, checked her for serious injuries and moved her to the sidewalk, consoled the other and began shouting directions in Korean to the those standing by to call an ambulance. I asked if anyone knew the children and asked someone to call their parents. Soon an ambulance arrived and one child left for the hospital and the other less injured child was taken to her home. I then returned to my car and drove toward the main drag in Itaewon where I had been headed when this all took place. As I stopped at the light in front of the Burger King, a small mob suddenly surrounded my car and began slapping and pounding on it. I recall thinking “what the hell?” I had no idea what was going on but some policeman appeared and literally dragged me from my car and hustled me off to the Itaewon Police Box where I was told to sit and wait. This was the time you would expect Rod Sterling voice to announce “you have just entered the Twilight Zone.” It was that unreal.
I protested that I had done nothing except try to aid the children who had been struck by a taxi. “If you were not at fault, why would you have stopped” I was asked by one incredulous policeman? I explained what had happened and he took me roughly by the arm and suggested we both go to the “scene of the crime.”
Make sure to read the rest of the story because it is incredible, but not surprising to those of us who are familiar with justice for GIs in Korea.
This incident happened in 1989 and it is interesting to compare it with later incidents involving US servicemembers such as the 1995 subway brawl:
It all began when an American soldier put his hand on a Korean woman’s rump.
The version that has captured the local imagination is that a group of drunken American soldiers were rampaging through the subway, molesting Korean women, and that the soldiers then attacked good citizens who dared protest the errant hand.
The American understanding of events starts with a fact that the Koreans tend to leave out: The American soldier and the Korean woman whose behind he patted were in fact a married couple.
The Americans say the problems arose when some angry young Koreans on the subway accused the American of sexually harassing the Korean woman. When the Korean woman explained that she was the American’s wife, the Korean men allegedly spat at her and slapped her — leading the woman’s husband to punch the man who slapped her.
In any case, the result that evening in May was a huge brawl in the subway. It has reverberated through the country and underscored the delicacy of the mission of the 37,000 American military personnel in bases in South Korea.
Now fast forward to 2002 when three US soldiers were kidnapped from the subway, beaten, and forced to make coerced statements in front of a large stadium audience and televised on national television:
3 US soldiers and a group of university student activists (and one elder leader) promoting a large anti-US/USFK rally were involved in a big brawl on the subway in Seoul.
1 GI was held captive by the students and forced to participate in the rally and write out a “confession” against himself for the subway incident and write statements against USFK concerning the recent tank accident.
Guess who was charged with assault? The GIs of course.
Fast forward once again, this time to 2006 where in two separate incidents GIs were assaulted by Korean mobs and since the soldiers retaliated they were convicted of crimes while the Koreans received no punishment:
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.
The latest example comes just last year where a GI was jailed for months before finely being released on appeal because the conviction against him was so dubious:
PFC Feldman was clearly innocent when he was originally convicted. Feldman claimed he was trying to hail a taxi while SGT Basel went to use the restroom. This alibi is highly likely since the victim did not remember seeing Feldman in the restroom. Also the Korean restaurant owner who heard the woman yell in the bathroom originally wrote on a sworn statement after the incident that he saw only one man in the restroom. Then days later after the police got a hold of him he changed his statement to say he saw Feldman in the restroom. Additionally the Korean prosecutors were linked to trying to coerce Basel into writing a statement saying that Feldman was in the restroom for a lighter sentence.
The evidence against Feldmann was so dubious that when he was convicted the chief judge encouraged Feldmann to appeal the sentence which is what he did. Finally, on appeal Feldmann was found not guilty and when look at the evidence he should have never had any charges brought against him in the first place.
It is pretty bad when you are convicted of a crime and the chief justice pretty much admits the conviction is dubious but goes ahead and convicts you anyway. These are just a small sampling of how GIs have not been receiving fair treatment in the Korean justice system and is something that has obviously been going on for quite some time. It makes you wonder who is really getting unequal treatment in the US-ROK Status of Forces Agreement?
The important thing to remember is that one of the things all these incidents have in common is that Korean witnesses lie and often encouraged to do so by the police. Also keep in mind the lies and travesties of justice are not just limited to GIs either but foreigners as well.
Despite USFK having an extremely low crime rate when compared to the surrounding civilian population, clearly justice for GIs will continue to be hard to find in Korea.
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5:37 pm on June 24th, 2008 1
These stories are just scary, but very real examples of how foreigners/GI’s getting attacked and then charged & fined for it (the latter stories) or even being blamed for being a good samaritan (the first story).
Now, I’ve been told by some friends here that most Koreans have “historical reasons” for automatically believing that foreigners/GI’s on the town are up to no good and if you hear that they misbehaved then it must be true. Yes, there are instances of misbehavior, but it gets so blown out of propertion in the media and rumor mongering that the general Korean population believes that the large majority of of foreigners/GI’s in the ROK that are no good criminals.
When real statistics are weighed in, we find out that it is a very undeserved stereotype. However, it is a stereotype that we seem to have to live with because it is so firmly entrenched in the Korean psyche and their beloved “victim” complex.
I am well aware that If I am attacked by a Korean, any witness might very well believe that I am the aggressor due to my non-Koreanness and I should be careful about what I do should that situation arise.
What is more scary is the discouragement of helping people out who need it due to fear of being wrongly blamed as the cause like in the first story.
There are other stories like the Canadian teacher who, outside a bar, came across a drunk ajosshi who was bleeding from the head. The Canucker went to get some tissues and band aids to help the guy out and put him into a taxi. Later, the ajosshi shows up at the bar with the police and accuses the canucker who helped him of being the one who assaulted him- no good deed goes unpunished!
The truth is that Koreans don’t really value the good samaritan. When witnessing people in trouble, they generally just go on about their business and they are not embarrassed to admit to their callousness. In many conversations about domestic violence, witnessing fights & accidents, most Koreans will tell you that they will not help out. That’s where you get to the first story of people automatically assuming the GI hit the 2 girls because “Why else would you stop?”.
Now, some can say that Koreans are still in a selfish ’survival mode’ that comes from the war and the times of serious food deprivation where they had to really look out for themselves and their loved ones, strangers be damned. However, if they ever want to be a real first world, developed nation, they have to stop acting like those poor, selfish peasants.
Oh yeah, and stop f***ing blaming foreigners/GI’s just because they are not Korean!!!!!!!!!
6:57 pm on June 24th, 2008 2
It’s not just the mob mentality that hurts Korea but the fact that the silent majority of kind caring Koreans stay so very silent. During the bad old days of IMF I had 3 young gentlemen play “whack a mole” with my head and although I sustained no life threatening injury I was deeply hurt by the fact that this happened on the street at Nammun in Suwon in broad day light and not one Korea person interferred. I’ve never felt quite the same about Korea since that day.
7:26 pm on June 24th, 2008 3
“The truth is that Koreans don’t really value the good samaritan.”
Yes that is the truth. So much for so called “Christians” in Korea.
“When witnessing people in trouble, they generally just go on about their business and they are not embarrassed to admit to their callousness. ”
They lack the ability to have empathy for their fellow man. Somebody dying in the street is meanly a curiosity for a Korean. Something to talk about over coffee and for a laugh. Maybe a UCC.
“In many conversations about domestic violence, witnessing fights & accidents, most Koreans will tell you that they will not help out.”
Beating women is part of Korean culture. For the most part, as far as I can tell, those that are beaten do deserve what they get. Personally, I just enjoy the show. As you know, “when in rome….”
7:28 pm on June 24th, 2008 4
“I’ve never felt quite the same about Korea since that day.”
Hopefully you learned your lesson.
7:34 pm on June 24th, 2008 5
separated at birth?
http://s3.amazonaws.com/findagrave/photos/2002/312/6905115_1036826259.jpg
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/23/content_8422447.htm
8:13 pm on June 24th, 2008 6
Been thinking about it some more and it comes down to some more issues of Korean culture.
Aside from the “me first” ultra-competitiveness of Korean society dictating, there are some other issues of law and society that go into it:
1)Self defense is not recognised by the law. If attacked, you are not legally allowed to use force to defend yourself. This is the most or one of the most f***ed up things about Korean law. If you forcefully defend yourself, you can easily find yourself in a world of trouble. The police have no logical solution to the BS this creates, but they just think ‘you shouldn’t have been in that situation in the first place, so you probably deserved it’. This is a major reason Koreans do not get involved in these situations because they know that they can easily end up on the wrong side of the law and have to pay for it.
2) The rule of “blood money”(hwap ee geum)- if you wrong somebody, you have to pay them. This system has gotten it so twisted that many times an innocent person has had to pay someone an exorbitant amount to someone who knows how to twist and manipulate the law. I had to do this myself when an ajumma lied about how she ran into me while I was riding my scooter- witnesses backed up her story. When the f***ing bonehead cops told her I work at the university, she really got dollar/Won signs in her eyes. When Koreans get hurt, they are looking to get paid, even if they are to blame. The system is set up that way and Koreans know it. People who get hurt are looking to cash in and most Koreans think it unwise to help them.
3)Transference- when people are wronged or get hurt, they sometimes look to take out their frustrations out on or place the blame on innocent bystanders. It’s part of getting ‘justice’ and ‘what’s owed you’, even if the target is an innocent person in the wrong place at the wrong time. This happens all over the world- like the Vincent Chin case. However, I have seen a lot of of it here, especially when alcohol is involved. People who feel they have been wronged are looking to take out their frustrations on someone and ‘get justice’ even if they are completely wrong. Most Koreans know this and look to stay away from these people.
It’s time for the foreigner/GI population and be on the defensive here. Notice trouble before it notices you- especially when it is in high risk, big drinking areas or at a time when xenophobia and nationalism are at a high like right now.
I hate to say it, but think twice before getting involved with locals in trouble. It very well may come back to bite you in the a$$ because the system is set up that way. The Koreans know it. We need to, too!
8:27 pm on June 24th, 2008 7
http://usinkorea.org/issues/sungod/index2.htm
That link is to a story of about 15 Irish people getting whacked around by a security detail in Itaewon one Chusok a few years ago.
From the articles that came out about it, it was easy to the owner/manager of the bar was at fault. Meaning: there were so many contradictions in what was said - with stories changing here and there — you got a pretty good idea that the Irish had a case to make with the police…
….but of course….no action was taken.
Knowing Korea, I can say at least the Irish were lucky in that they were not the ones arrested and fined.
9:36 pm on June 24th, 2008 8
The Japanese gave Korea a hand up from their africa style huts into civilizatoin and all it got them was hatred.
The USA freed Korea from their so called “slavery” of colonization and today Koreans spit on the “yankees”.
The Korean military cadets think the USA is a threat and even school children are clueless as to how and when the Korean war started.
http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSSEO21540820080624
“Nearly half of South Korea’s teenagers do not know who started the Korean War”
This proves what I have been saying for a long time. Korean teachers are so incompetent and Korean students are so foolish, they can’t even learn the propaganda that the USA started the war. LOL, they cant even get that right. LOL
10:15 pm on June 24th, 2008 9
All I was saying was that the silent majority is all too common quiet. Most of the Koreans that we spend time with just don’t make themselves heard
10:59 pm on June 24th, 2008 10
“silent majority”
Nearly 1,000,000 people protesting US beef?
Can you imagine 6,250,000 Americans marching about how Kimuchi stinks? LOL!
What about 27 million chinese protesting about low quality Korean products? LOL
The silent majority is speaking. Koreans hate the USA.
2:53 am on June 28th, 2008 11
[...] Korean public gets a lot of criticism for not being good samaritans, so to be fair here is an example that Koreans are not the only ones willing to stand around and do [...]
6:23 am on June 28th, 2008 12
12:48 pm on July 28th, 2008 13
Completly agree with “Benicio974.” You might think that I am a cold-hearted SOB…and might possibly be correct, but when you are in a society where all of the cards are stacked against you, then it is house rules.
Remeber taking a Medic First Aid/CPR course a few years back and when asked what would I do if I came upon a stranger who was non-responsive/not breathing? My answer: Call 911! The instructor stated that I should initiate CPR…Blah x 3. I countered that in today’s world it is self-preservation to look out for yourself and let the appropriate authorities, with the malpractice insurance, take care of John Q. Citizen.
I believe that this goes even further in foreign countries. My general rule, is if their own fellow countrymen will not get involved and help them, then why should I?
But…being a god fearing American, I occasionally have lapses where I have rescued drowning Asians, etc.
Will I never learn???
6:44 am on September 24th, 2008 14
[...] that if an incident happens between a Korean and a GI the assumption from the start is that the servicemember is at fault. A GI in Korea is truly guilty until he can prove themselves innocent. GI’s can be assaulted, [...]