Tag: Burger King

It looks like the start of a new fast food trend could be happening in South Korea:

Food companies are continuing to target customers by appealing to their pets, with Burger King releasing an upgraded edition of its “Dogpper” dog biscuits from Monday.

The hamburger chain had first given out dog treats as a limited edition last year. The product takes its name from the American fast-food corporation’s signature burger, the Whopper, and is flavored with a similar taste and smell. Last May, Burger King held a promotional campaign in which customers who ordered home delivery for a two-week period received the free dog treats. 

During those two weeks, Burger King’s home delivery orders increased by 20 percent, the company said, prompting them to continue the promotional deal in June. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Cho Joong-pil, the mother of a college student who was stabbed to death at a Burger King in the popular international district of Itaewon in 1997, leaves the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul on July 26, 2018. The court ordered the state to pay 360 million won (US$321,113) in compensation to the family of the student who was killed by two Americans. (Yonhap)

American citizen Arthur Patterson (C), accused of murdering a South Korean college student in 1997, is taken away by prison officials at the Seoul High Court on Sept. 13, 2016, after the court convicted him of stabbing a college student multiple times at a Burger King in the foreigner-friendly Itaewon Ward in central Seoul. He was sentenced to 20 years in jail, which is the severest possible penalty for the defendant who was then an adolescent. (Yonhap)

What a mess this entire Burger King murder case has been over the past 2 decades, but fortunately some justice appears to have finally be served in this case.  Still 20 years in prison still seems too lenient for this guy:

A Seoul court on Friday convicted U.S. citizen Arthur Patterson of murder in the lurid Itaewon murder case and sentenced him to 20 years in prison, almost 19 years after the murder.

The Seoul Central District Court found the 36-year-old guilty of fatally stabbing Hongik University student Cho Jung-pil on April 3, 1997, in a Burger King in the capital’s popular Itaewon district.

Cho was found dead in the restroom of a fast food restaurant, stabbed nine times in the neck and chest.

“There was credibility in confessions by Edward Lee, while Patterson’s comments were inconsistent and contradicted evidence,” the Seoul Central District Court said in the ruling.

Patterson was extradited to Korea in September to face charges in a reopened investigation into the case and maintained his innocence throughout.

Patterson has denied the murder charge, blaming Lee. The two men were both in the restaurant at the time of the murder, and both accused the other of being the killer.

The court said Patterson’s bloodstained clothes and hands pinpointed him as the assailant.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link.

The Itaewon Burger King murder trial has started with former convict for the murder Edward Lee pointing the finger at Arthur John Patterson as the murderer of Korean student Cho Choong-pil:

During the questioning, Lee found it difficult to recall the situation in which the murder took place in April 1997, but the Korean-American said in the courtroom that he saw Patterson suddenly turning to the victim and stabbing him.

“When the murder took place, I went to the bathroom to wash my hands,” he said. “Patterson suddenly started to stab him. I turned around and I was shocked.

“Cho was trying to hit the accused with his right hand, but Patterson stabbed him and kept stabbing him.”

He admitted that there were only three people including Patterson, Cho and himself at the crime scene. But he continued to accuse Patterson of murdering Cho.

He also took issue with the credibility of the past investigation records and how he was treated during the questioning by the police and prosecutors.

“I have consistently asked for an interpreter, but they didn’t provide me with one,” he said. “I was interrogated without an interpreter, coerced and threated during the first investigation for 17 hours. They didn’t let me go to sleep.”   [Korea Herald]

You can read the rest at the link, but Patterson continues to claim that Lee is the actual murderer.  I feel so bad for the victim’s mother who also testified and had to listen to the details about how her son was killed for no reason and then see these two each deny responsibility.  Even if Lee did not commit the murder he is still culpable for not saying anything after it happened.  If he saw Patterson stabbing someone to death he should of at least immediately alerted people in the restaurant to call the police and paramedics.

Does everyone remember the Itaewon Burger King murder case?  Well it is back for round two of two decade long effort to convict the then dependent of USFK contractor of murdering a Hongik University student back in 1997:

The two original suspects in a high-profile 1997 Itaewon murder case could potentially be brought back together today in a preparatory session before the start of legal proceedings in the trial against 36-year-old American Arthur Patterson.

Patterson and his friend, Edward Lee, were accused of killing Hongik University student Cho Jung-pil at a fast food restaurant on April 3, 1997, in Itaewon, a popular foreigner-friendly district in central Seoul.

Cho was found dead in the bathroom of a Burger King, stabbed nine times in his neck and chest. The two men, then 18, were both in the restaurant at the time of the murder and both pinpointed the other in the killing.

Lee, a Korean-American, was later convicted for the murder but was acquitted of those charges in 1998 by the Supreme Court, which ruled that there was insufficient evidence to conclude that the murder had been carried out by one man.

He will attend as a witness in the trial against Patterson, who was originally charged and convicted for weapons possession and destruction of evidence before fleeing to the United States in 1999.

“We have confirmed that Lee … is currently staying in Korea,” a prosecutor from the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office said on Wednesday, adding that it was planning to request Lee as a witness in the preparatory session to be held at the Seoul Central District Court.

The same day, Lee’s father appeared on a radio program to reiterate that his son would testify in the case.

“My son came to Korea about a month ago and he will attend [the preparatory session] as a witness,” he said. “We want the case closed this time so that we can finally be free from it.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link and you can read more about this case at this prior posting.  Basically this whole case comes down to incompetence in the Korean judicial system to let these two go free in the first place.  This was a brutal murder that the family deserves justice for.

Here is another reason why criminals shouldn’t fear the South Korean justice system:

A Seoul court has ordered that the South Korean government pay about $34,000 to the family of a murdered university student because local prosecutors mistakenly allowed an American suspect to return home, according to court officials.

The decision from early this week ends a seven-year fight from the victim’s family, who was outraged that South Korean officials failed to stop Arthur Patterson, one of the two suspects in the case, from leaving South Korea, according to a family spokesman.

(…)

In April 1997, Cho Chong-pil was stabbed to death in a Burger King restroom in Itaewon. Investigators and experts at the time said the stabbing appeared to be random and similar to an American gang-style killing. Two American teens, Patterson and Eddie Lee, were charged in the case.

Patterson, the dependent of a contract worker for U.S. Forces Korea, was charged with possessing a deadly weapon and destroying evidence. He was convicted and sentenced to 18 months. Lee, who had no direct connection 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 also was released early from prison in 1998, in the annual Aug. 15 liberation day amnesty granted by the South Korean government to some 2,000 convicts. Prosecutors promised to pursue the case and perhaps file a harsher charge against Patterson. Yet after his release from prison, he was allowed to leave South Korea, the court’s ruling this week admitted.

Amazing someone originally convicted of a brutal murder and sentenced for 20 years is later released while his accomplice is later released as well by a special pardon.

For those not familiar with Burger King murder case here is a quick recap of the murder:

On April 3, 1997, Joong Pil and his steady girlfriend Jung Eun were on their way to her home in Itaewon after studying at the Kook Ki Won Library. They stopped to use the restroom at the fast food restaurant. Jung Eun went to order soft drinks and Joong Pil went into the restroom.

The motive for the murder was that Lee killed the victim just for fun. After killing Cho, Lee went back to the table and hung out again with Patterson like nothing had happened while Cho slowly bled to death in the restroom. Similar to the Penich murder case another cold blooded murderer was allowed to go free. Now both these punks are running around free in America instead of rotting in jail where they can’t kill anyone else just for fun.