By This is not good news at all for USFK:
A U.S. Forces Korea soldier was recently arrested on charges of raping two women and the attempted rape of a third, numerous South Korean media reported Tuesday.
Spokespeople from USFK and the Seoul prosecutor’s office could not be reached late Tuesday to confirm the stories.
The soldier was identified in the reports as a 23-year-old but was not identified by name. Some reports said he was Korean-American.
According to the reports, the soldier allegedly raped a 21-year-old South Korean woman at 4 a.m. on June 14 in Dongducheon, then beat her and took her cell phone so she could not call police.
Police collected DNA from the attacker’s semen, but the woman said she didn’t clearly remember what he looked like because it was dark and she was traumatized from the attack.
Sometime after that incident, a U.S. soldier allegedly took a woman he met at a club in Seoul’s popular Hongdae district to a dark, deserted spot and raped her. In another incident, a U.S. soldier was detained and questioned by USFK police after he allegedly tried to rape a woman he met at a Hongdae club, the South Korean media reported. [Stars & Stripes]
Read the rest of the story but the Korean police requested help from USFK investigators to track this guy down and through DNA evidence the USFK and Korean authorities were able to arrest this guy. It will be interesting to see how much media attention this case will receive in Korea in the coming months.
7:36 am on October 22nd, 2008 1
It will be interesting to see what happens – especially since you mentioned the news that the candle-light groups are already trying to generate interest in anti-Lee activity. – When the beef issue was coming to an end, I said that Korean society would feel pretty happy with the amount of power they demonstrated against the government and that would probably translate into cutting down the time before another anti-US spike occurs.
But, these types of crimes usually don't spark a lot of street activity beyond the activist groups.
GI Crimes and the SOFA is a big selling point for these groups among the masses, but it doesn't seem to generate a lot of street protests.
3:13 pm on October 22nd, 2008 2
At least the police appear to have done a commendable job here. Unfortunately with this kind of crime that isn't always something that can be taken for granted.
3:15 pm on October 22nd, 2008 3
I'm interested to see if this soldier is really a Korean-American. That would explain how he could blend in the crowd of the off-limits area. But if true, it will sadly reflect on all the rest of hard-working and honorable Korean-Americans soldiers/airmen/sailors here in the ROK. I sure hope he's not a Korean-American…
3:59 pm on October 22nd, 2008 4
Here's the latest:
A 2nd Infantry Division soldier is expected to be charged next week with raping a South Korean woman in June, U.S. military and South Korean officials said Wednesday.
The man also made financial settlements with two other women who say the 23-year-old raped or tried to rape them in August, officials said.
The soldier, whose full name is not being released, is a Korean-American whose last name is Kim, said Lee Hong-jae, chief prosecutor for the Seoul Central Prosecutor Office. The soldier won’t be tried for the alleged attacks in August because the women withdrew their complaints against him.
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&am…
12:16 am on October 23rd, 2008 5
"if true, it will sadly reflect on all the rest of hard-working and honorable Korean-Americans soldiers/airmen/sailors here in the ROK. I sure hope he’s not a Korean-American…"
And what it would be like if he was some other sort of American?
5:37 am on October 23rd, 2008 6
[...] Here is the latest update on the USFK soldier that allegedly sexually assaulted three Korean women: [...]