By With the release of the recent Itaewon movie it appears interest has been rekindled in regards to bringing the murderer of the South Korean man killed in the Itaewon Burger King to justice:
Prosecutors have reopened the investigation into a politically charged 1997 murder here and plan to seek extradition of a suspect in the case with ties to U.S. Forces Korea, Korean media outlets have reported.
The renewed interest in the case of a Korean man who was stabbed to death in a Burger King restaurant near Yongsan Garrison comes in the wake of the fall release of a popular movie — “The Case of Itaewon Homicide” — based on the killing and the systemic failures that eventually led to the release of the two suspects.
Some Koreans believe suspects with ties to the U.S. military receive favorable treatment in cases involving Korean victims. That has been the cause of occasional protests over the years in South Korea, where 28,500 American servicemembers are stationed.
In April 1997, 23-year-old university student Cho Chong-pil was stabbed repeatedly and killed in a Burger King bathroom in Itaewon, an entertainment district in Seoul popular with American servicemembers and other foreigners in South Korea. Two Americans — Arthur Patterson and Eddie Lee — were charged in the killing, which investigators at the time said appeared to be random and similar to a U.S. gang-style murder. The two suspects blamed each other for the fatal stabbing.
Lee, a Korean-American with no connections to USFK, was charged with murder and sentenced to life in prison. A higher court, however, reduced that sentence to 20 years and ultimately acquitted Lee for lack of evidence after he had served 18 months. [Stars & Stripes]
I seriously doubt any extradition is going to happen and this is just a face saving measure for the Korean authorities to show they are doing something, but the Americans won’t hand him over.
You can read more about the Itaewon Burger King murder at the link, but this is an issue that I have long covered here at the ROK Drop because of the attempts by South Korean activists to turn it into an anti-US issue. This effort has largely failed because with this case it is clearly incompetence by both the ROK legal system and government that allowed the killer to go free, not some sinister US conspiracy.
Some same incompetence would later repeat itself in the tragic Jamie Penich murder case in Itaewon as well.
7:03 pm on December 23rd, 2009 1
The more to reinforce the false impression that foreigners are never the victims of crime here. I can recall a few cases where foreigners were murdered and the stories only made the last pages of local papers.
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9:06 pm on December 23rd, 2009 2
By coincidence I watched this movie last night.
It does not follow the facts exactly- some dramatization of events- and it is generally not well made. It has too many abrupt jumps in scenes without adequate explanation of what has happened.
That being said, I was glad to see that it is not an anti-US propaganda vehicle. The focus on the movie are the critical, monumental screw-ups by the K authorities in the investigation and the crippling doubt and fear by the main prosecutor over whether he is pursuing the case correctly and if he even has the the right guy pinned for it.
As for the anti-US groups using this as propaganda, I just don’t think it will work. Most everyone knows that the blame for this fiasco lies with the K authorities.
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10:53 pm on December 23rd, 2009 3
It has begun:
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=66835
SEOUL — Prosecutors have reopened the investigation into a politically charged 1997 murder here and plan to seek extradition of a suspect in the case with ties to U.S. Forces Korea, Korean media outlets have reported.
The renewed interest in the case of a Korean man who was stabbed to death in a Burger King restaurant near Yongsan Garrison comes in the wake of the fall release of a popular movie — “The Case of Itaewon Homicide” — based on the killing and the systemic failures that eventually led to the release of the two suspects.
Some Koreans believe suspects with ties to the U.S. military receive favorable treatment in cases involving Korean victims. That has been the cause of occasional protests over the years in South Korea, where 28,500 American servicemembers are stationed.
In April 1997, 23-year-old university student Cho Chong-pil was stabbed repeatedly and killed in a Burger King bathroom in Itaewon, an entertainment district in Seoul popular with American servicemembers and other foreigners in South Korea. Two Americans — Arthur Patterson and Eddie Lee — were charged in the killing, which investigators at the time said appeared to be random and similar to a U.S. gang-style murder. The two suspects blamed each other for the fatal stabbing.
Lee, a Korean-American with no connections to USFK, was charged with murder and sentenced to life in prison. A higher court, however, reduced that sentence to 20 years and ultimately acquitted Lee for lack of evidence after he had served 18 months.
Patterson, the dependent of a contract worker for USFK, was charged with possessing a deadly weapon and destroying evidence. He was convicted and sentenced to 18 months, but was released from prison early in 1998 as part of the annual Aug. 15 liberation day amnesty granted by the South Korean government to some 2,000 convicts.
Prosecutors promised at the time to pursue the case further and perhaps file harsher charges against Patterson, but he was mistakenly allowed to leave South Korea.
A Seoul court in 2006 ordered the South Korean government to pay the victim’s family $34,000 for mistakes made in the handling of the case.
Then came the release of the movie. According to Yeon Hye-young, the marketing team leader for the film, it was inspired by the idea that “one of them, or both of them, surely killed an innocent person, but they were set free and walked away.”
“Rage, fury and sadness over the injustice about this cold case is another factor we want to talk about through the movie,” she said. “[It is] our hope that such an event must not happen again in our land.”
The movie was shown at about 200 theaters around South Korea upon its release.
This month, Korean media outlets reported that the foreign affairs division of the Seoul prosecutor’s office and the Ministry of Justice are seeking extradition of the 32-year-old Patterson from the U.S. government. Time is of the essence since there is a 15-year statute of limitations to prosecute such cases in South Korea.
Spokesmen for the prosecutor’s office and the Ministry of Justice refused to comment on the case when contacted by Stars and Stripes.
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December 23rd, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Looks like he was tried, sentenced, and served his time. I can’t imagine the US would even consider extraditing him unless some very significant new evidence surfaces – and a movie doesn’t constitute new evidence – but that looks like the only thing “new” about this case.
Otherwise, it would be a case of double jeopardy.
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December 25th, 2009 at 10:28 am
It looks like my earlier comment — that this case leads more to anti-kyopo sentiment than to a general anti-American or anti-foreign sentiment — was lost.
Anyway, about double jeopardy, I think Patterson was not tried and convicted for the murder charge, but rather a weapons carrying charge (and maybe an evidence disposal charge), so if I’m right then deciding there’s enough evidence to try him for murder would not constitute double jeopardy.
Also, though he was released (mistakenly) as part of the 8.15 amnesty that one year, I think he illegally left the country to flee further prosecution, for whatever that’s worth.
I haven’t seen the movie, but the actual story — as reported in the Korean press — paints a picture of incompetence and miscommunication by different groups of authority.
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December 25th, 2009 at 11:47 am
My understanding is that he was a few months from completing his sentence – so the early release was in line with such early holiday releases.
If the Korean gov’t allowed him to have possession of his passport (appears they did) and his name wasn’t on the roster at immigration of those not allowed to leave the country (that also appears to be the case) – why do you say he left the country illegally?
It sounds like the Korean gov’t probably didn’t want him to leave – but did nothing to stop him – and he left the country legally.
2:26 am on December 24th, 2009 4
“a movie doesn’t constitute new evidence – but that looks like the only thing “new” about this case.”
BINGO!
As said, looks like the Korean government/prosecutors are “doing something” just to make it look like they are doing something.
The public will forget soon enough.
That being said, both Lee & Patterson deserve to rot in jail!
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4:28 am on December 25th, 2009 5
I would like to see patterson and lee hung. Two less pumpkins. Plus they killed a loser, so that makes three less. That is good news to me.
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December 25th, 2009 at 7:43 am
To each his own I suppose…but whether they’re hung or only packin’ a shorty…I don’t want to see it.
You call yourself dogeater…that doesn’t have anything to do with wanting to see guys who are hung, does it?
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