By This has to be one of the weirdest GI crime headlines I have read yet:
An 8th Army soldier allegedly set fire to an Itaewon restaurant after a night of binge drinking, South Korean police said.
Police said a 22-year-old Army specialist stationed at K-16 Air Base is under investigation for the early Thursday fire. He allegedly jumped onto the terrace of My Thai China, set fire to a mound of trash because he was cold, then passed out, police said.
The soldier, police said, was rescued from the blaze by Korean movie star Hong Suk-chon, who owns the My Thai China and four other Itaewon restaurants. [Stars & Stripes]
Anyone know where this guy’s battle buddy was? One thing is for sure, Hong Suk-chon was more then happy to be this guy’s battle buddy:
Hong Suk-chon on right at gay party.
Hong is also not pressing charges against the soldier either which is extremely fortunate for him:
Police said Hong will not press charges against the soldier.
“[Hong] said he does not want the soldier to be punished since he did not believe the soldier did it intentionally,” the policeman said. “He was very worried about whether [the soldier] was injured.”
He will probably not be punished under Korean laws, but I would be surprised if he didn’t get hit with an Article 15 of some kind for what happened.
10:35 pm on January 18th, 2009 1
Am I the only one who sees the irony in his name being Suk?
At least the owner didn’t get injured. I guess that means he is well Hong.
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10:07 am on February 1st, 2009 2
I'm not gay but I've been a big fan of Hong Suk-chon's first bar in Itaewon, My Place (nice little cocktail bar (awesome White Russians) on the 8th floor above Discovery (across the street from Hooker Hill) awesome view of Itaewon, highly recommend the place especially during the warmer seasons) for years. I've met him a number of times, and he is a very friendly, very nice man. When I do go to Itawon for a night of club hopping, I always try to stop into one of his places, cause he has some of the most interesting bars/clubs/restaurants in Itaewon. I hope the next time I go to Itaewon I get the chance to see him and find out what hapened.
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8:03 pm on February 1st, 2009 3
The GI was probably happy that Hong Suk-chon acted like a fireman but just wished he hadn't used his hose so much.
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