By With all these USFK servicemembers getting arrested for DUI’s maybe some jail time would do them some good as well?
For 70 days, Airman Dustin Smith sat alone in a tiny Japanese jail cell, slowly working off a $4,400 fine for driving drunk.Smith, assigned to Misawa, was already in trouble with his command in early December when he did what a lot of people do while under stress: He went out drinking.
He vaguely remembers someone in a bar saying that they would call him a taxi. The next thing he remembers is waking up behind the wheel, smashed into a parked car. He got out and saw both the front and back ends of his car dented and caved in, with each wheel pointing a different direction. [Stars & Stripes]
The DUI’s in USFK really piss me off because there is no reason to drive drunk in Korea with all the convenient mass transit and taxis available. One of these days one of these idiots driving drunk is going to kill someone and I just hope it doesn’t happen before next year’s Korean presidential election because than we may see 2002 happen all over again.
6:35 am on June 24th, 2011 1
Yes.
7:42 am on June 24th, 2011 2
No, they shouldn’t be sent to jail. We don’t want to create more anti-Korean feelings amongst expats. They will say Korea is racist for sending the DUI expat drivers to jail. They will say Koreans drink and drive all the time, why they put Americans in jail? Racist Koreans!
8:33 am on June 24th, 2011 3
I figured this would come up sometime. With the change in policy about driving privledges the risk becomes higher for DUI. I’m sure there are some factors that come into play, and probably one of them is the fact that folks think a DUI off post isn’t that bad and it won’t follow them or hurt their career as much a DUI in the states.
I think the policy for punishment should be the same as a Korean National’s punishment, then USFK should bring the hammer down on related charges. Bottom line: there’s no excuse for DUI in Korea. None.
10:13 am on June 24th, 2011 4
Tom hits the nail squarely on the head… Congratulations Tom, you are thinking very clearly.
12:33 pm on June 24th, 2011 5
Ah, Tom beat me to it. If this happens…
… whether the guy (or gal) is put in jail we will see a chorus across the K-blogs saying how Koreans drink and drive all the time so why are they making such a big deal out of the USFK guy (or gal) who did it.*
Never mind that the ROK government, through no small expense in terms of manpower and what-not, has been aggressively trying to reduce DUI (not just those caught but, through deterrence, the actual amount of people doing it whether they are caught or not).
The ubiquitous 대리운전 (anyone care to share stories on the good or bad of this?) is thriving as a result.
* It’s a common meme and defense strategy, though one that often ignores facts. Metropolitician did this when “The Poker Eight” were arrested for poker (and drugs).
4:40 pm on June 24th, 2011 6
Throw ‘em in the stockade and let ‘em sober off.
5:30 pm on June 24th, 2011 7
The typical punishment given by the local prosecutors would be fair. If it is just a fine, then a fine it should be. If it’s a short prison sentence, than so be it. You simply can’t demand a heavier sentence because that’s what they would have gotten in the United States.
5:32 pm on June 24th, 2011 8
…Again, it all depends if they are tried in the local courts or not. But, isn’t that the real issue?
3:08 am on June 25th, 2011 9
Even after getting punished in the Korean court system, don’t they also receive UCMJ?
7:10 am on June 25th, 2011 10
Yes, I’m talking about Yes, under UCMJ, they should be going to jail.
They’re violating command policy letters, direct orders, army regulations, ignoring safety briefings, ignoring the mass transit system, not utilizing the buddy system appropriately, not utilizing their chain to drive them home which they’ve been told they can do, and not listening in the formations when people are getting relieved or losing stripes for DUI. There’s absolutely no excuse.
7:14 am on June 25th, 2011 11
And of course, it will be super awesome for USFK-ROK relations when a drunk driver does actually kill some school girls and they ask how USFK tried to prevent it.
7:36 am on June 25th, 2011 12
And how would it affect USFK-ROK relations if a drunk Korean was drunk driving and he killed a US soldier or dependent family member?
7:41 am on June 25th, 2011 13
#12 Oh, of course it wouldn’t effect anything, because it doesn’t have the same political ramifications for elected officials. Thank you for your service and all that.
7:43 am on June 25th, 2011 14
Hmmm… I wonder what happens with DUI’s for foreign students at US military bases though…
7:48 am on June 25th, 2011 15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUNFRKUHmkM So… this is a misleading ad.
9:34 am on June 25th, 2011 16
Yes, they should sit in jail as punishment for drinking and driving. If I am drunk and wave a loaded gun around in a crowd, what would happen to me? If I’m drunk and I start swinging a baseball around in a crowd what would happen to me? If I’m drunk and drive a 5,000 pound car at 60 MPH down a two lane road with oncoming traffic traveling at 60 MPH why is that any less dangerous than waving a gun around?
If that’s enough let me put it in another perspective. A drunk crashes head-on into a car carrying a woman and two children. The drunk survives, but the woman and children are killed. The husband of the girls killed in the crash decides to take his vengeance on the family of the drunk and kills the drunk’s mother, father, wife, children and siblings.
So what if the man rots in jail for the rest of his life, he has exacted his revenge and feels at peace with himself in that he has taken away from the drunk what had been taken from him.
The US Army hides behind the UCMJ in Korea where if a soldier commits a crime against a Korean, the US is arguably immune because the drunk Soldier had been told, in this case, not to drink and drive by a competent authority / representative of the US so the drunk violates the Korean law and the US law. Who loses? only the victim.
2:37 pm on July 20th, 2011 17
YES YES YES YES a million times yes. Why, do you ask? today i almost got hit by one. Actually make that about an hr ago almost. I was out taking a walk when this drunken idiot jumps the curb on the sideway headed towards me. I literally thought i was going to die. Thank goodness i thought about my son and decided to run across the street to almost safety. He decided he wanted to drive away! He couldnt since he blew out his tire. im sure ill get anxiety from this and decide i may never leave this apt until we leave in 2012.