GI Flashbacks: The 2004 Taxi Cab Rape Case
There probably isn’t a greater miscarriage of justice against a USFK servicemember than what happened to this soldier upon arrival at Incheon International Airport back in 2004:
The Seoul High Court yesterday overturned the conviction by a lower court of a 49-year old taxi driver who had been charged with the rape of a 19-year old U.S. female soldier.
The man had received a 10-month prison term in the original trial after being convicted of luring the newly-arrived servicewoman from Incheon International Airport to a hotel near there where the woman said he raped her.
The woman reported the incident to U.S. military authorities, who asked for assistance from Korean prosecutors.
The appeals court ruled that the woman had shown no evidence of having refused the man’s advances, and that he used “not enough violence to constitute rape.”The prosecution said it would take the matter to the Supreme Court. The U.S. servicewoman returned to the United States in February; the defendant’s appeal was decided without her presence. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
So what are the odds that a 19 year old US soldier who arrived in the country for the first time would just suddenly want to have sex with a 49 year old taxi driver as soon as she gets off the plane? It doesn’t make any sense, but in the Korean court system it makes perfect sense. This is an incident that if it happened today USFK and the US government would probably have made large protests about with the cab driver not being punished for his crime. However, back in 2004 USFK was on the defensive due to the anti-US movement that had been triggered by the 2002 armored vehicle accident that killed two Korean school girls.
I have always hoped that everything turned out alright for this soldier who was raped and the perpetrator was allowed to walk. However, remember this story the next time someone makes the claim about GIs never being punished for crimes in Korea.
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My neighbor is a taxi driver, and he said that should not have happened in anyway. Government regulation, is that drivers are not allowed to touch a woman of any kind. If they are drunk and unruly, they must drive them to the nearest police station for help with that female passenger; absolutely not touch There are no exceptions. When I think of this, it makes me really sick.
That young girl was left to fend for her way to her unit, in a strange land. All soldiers should be pickup at the airport by unit personnel. I hope, so help me God! I hope that dog baby meets his demise on a North Korean bayonet. There are some really sick little basters, I been living with Korean for forty years, I know them like the back of my hand, especially the ones that work for USFORCES Korea. I hope she got out with 100% with unemployability. Must have been traumatic for her.