Prominent K-blog commenter and lawyer Brendon Carr offers some outstanding advice in today’s Stars and Stripes newspaper. Brendon hits on a number of potential issues with soldiers who get in trouble in Korea. Here is probably the most telling statement from the article:
Beyond language difficulties is the prospect that South Koreans who give testimony might feel it culturally acceptable to lie, especially if it will increase their chances of winning bigger damages, Carr said.
This culture, Carr said, does not place the same value on truth or view the truth through the same prism that Americans do. There is very little social disapproval of making false official statements in order to achieve an objective for your friend or relative or for a tribemate.
Once it breaks down to ˜those Americans versus us Koreans, many, many Koreans will perceive it as their duty to make sure that the Korean is the winner of the dispute. So there’s a lot of lying when witnesses come forward, Carr said.
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The soldiers involved in a brawl in Itaewon last November have been sentenced:
A South Korean judge sentenced three U.S. soldiers Friday for their participation in a Nov. 11 bar brawl in the Itaewon entertainment district.
Two soldiers — Pvt. Sylvester Antely Clark, 19, and Spc. Tydes Whiten, 27, — were sentenced to 18 months in prison for punching and striking a U.N. Club bouncer with beer bottles during the fight.
But judge Han Yang-seok suspended both sentences for two years, saying he took into account that both soldiers paid compensation to the bouncer, had no prior convictions and “had worked diligently to defend the country†as soldiers here.
Pfc. Mario Duprey, convicted of assaulting a police officer, was fined the equivalent of about $3,000.
The two soldiers involved in the brawl have been maintaining their innocence that they were not the ones who hit the bouncer with a beer bottle. Judging by past altercations involving Koreans falsely accusing GIs of assault, this claim may quite possibly be true. However, there is not enough information available compared to the Acosta case, to really make a determination on this and the fact that PVT Clark was led into the courtroom in shackles I found quite interesting:
Clark, who was escorted in and out of the courtroom by Army criminal investigators and restrained with his hands shackled to a belt around his waist, declined to comment.
The fact he was led into the courtroom into shackles leads me to wonder what other trouble he has gotten into to be the only one shackled in the courtroom. No one is going to jail, but they are definitely lighter in the pocketbook and hopefully other soldiers can take some good lessons learned from this incident, especially like when you are drunk don’t go to the police station and start crap there.Â
This article from the Asia Sentinel is a must read for anyone remotely interested in the North Korean counterfeiting of US currency. The reporters travel to China to see if they find North Korean supernotes. This is what they found:
These days there is also a reasonable facsimile of another famous American crossing the river in the opposite direction Benjamin Franklin. If you’ve got the connections here, and they aren’t hard to find, you can easily encounter Franklin’s enigmatic face for about US$50 on a reasonable copy of a US $100 bill. These presumably Pyongyang-printed Big-Head Benjamins are known worldwide as “supernotes.
We know. We bought one.
So where did these reporters buy these supernotes, right in the open of course:
Our supernote purchase $100, US Series 2003, serial number DI03120777A (acquired strictly for purposes of this story) took place literally within the shadow of the China Bank of Communications. The bank is directly across the street from the Dandong office of China Customs, which in turn is next to a People’s Liberation Army facility as is the Dandong Police headquarters. Coincidentally, the transaction also took place on the afternoon of Kim’s 65th birthday, February 16.
So where did the supernotes come from you may ask?:
At first he said he got them accidentally from various foreign tourists who were changing them for yuan. Were the tourists from North Korea? He shrugged and smiled and said perhaps some had relatives or friends over there across the mighty Yalu. But after asking if he could sell one or two more, he quickly left on his bicycle after taking a brief mobile phone call.
Make sure you read the whole article, very interesting read about this illegal activity happening quite openly in China with little effort by Chinese authorities to stop it. Maybe it is time someone starts printing Chinese yuan to start spreading around and see how the Chinese government likes that.
HT: Simon World
The Marmot is reporting that the soldier involved in the despicable grandma rape case has been sentenced to 4 years in prison. The Marmot thinks that the soldier got off light. In a US court system and especially a military court it appears he did get off easy. Take the 2003 Camp Jackson sexual assault case for example, the NCO involved in the rape of a KATUSA soldier was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
However, if you compare the soldier’s sentence to Korean rape cases he was actually punished quite heavily. Take this case of a Korean national raping a US Army private just arriving in country and missed the bus to Yongsan and instead decided to take a taxi. Instead of a ride to Yongsan she was raped by the cab driver. What happened to the cab driver you may ask? Not much:
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.
Fortunately a higher court later over turned this ridiculous ruling and gave the guy a sentence of two and half years in prison. But still two and half years for a predator that raped a 19 year old soldier? Isn’t this rape case just as disgusting as the rape of a 67 year old woman? At least this rape had some one arrested for it unlike when a US Army officer was raped by a Korean man in Taegu. How about this rape of an English teacher in Seoul that is particularly unsettling. Here is my personal favorite of a Korean man whose only punishment for attempting to rape a woman in his car was to lose his license. Most recently the ROK Army soldier who sexually assaulted a US female soldier on Camp Casey only received a sentence of 4 years probation.
Going by the Korean standard of recent sentencing of sexual assaults against foreigners, the convicted USFK soldier in this rape case should have received up to two and half years in jail to a minimum of four years probation and possibly lose his driver’s license.
For all the talk about the unfair SOFA Agreement, this is just one case in many I have seen where if the military tried the case the criminal would have probably spent more time in jail. Perfect example is the Camp Jackson case I mentioned earlier. Either way the criminal is in jail and justice was served, but it would be nice to see justice served against the criminals committing sexual assaults against foreigners as well.
Former USFK soldier and convicted murderer Kenneth Markle who was just recently released from ROK prison, has apparently spoken out over at Lost Nomad proclaiming his innocence in the 1992 murder of Korean prostitute Kum E. Yoon. This murder is the most brutal as well as the most publicly known murder by a US servicemember in Korea and has long been used by anti-US groups to influence public opinion against USFK in Korea.
I can remember a few years back being in charge of a force protection detail at Camp Red Cloud when my soldiers working the front gate called me to come to the gate. I went to the gate and the typical anti-US loons were out there with signs with the murdered body of Ms. Yoon on it as well as the crushed bodies of the two girls killed in the 2002 armored vehicle accident. That was the first time I had ever seen pictures of the brutal murder, that even years after it happened are still sickenly used for political reasons.
Markle says he didn’t do it and we would be surprised if we read the court transcripts. Well then he should scan post them on a webpage and let us with interest in the case read them. He is the one convicted for the murder and thus the burden of proof is on him to prove he is innocent.
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Note: An updated posting about this case can be read at the below link:
From the Chosun:
Police on Saturday booked a man in his 50s over a scuffle with a woman on Line 2 of the Seoul subway.The man identified as Park got on the train at Seoul National
University Station at around 7 p.m. when he saw the woman identified as Ju sitting in a seat reserved for the elderly. You’re young, what do you think you’re doing sitting here? Get out of the way, he was quoted as shouting. When Ju refused to budge, Park pulled her out of the seat by her arm and slapped her in the face. However, police investigation revealed that Park, a carpenter by trade, was in fact the younger of the two at the age of 55, while his hapless victim was 56. Police quoted Park as saying Ju’s face looked so fresh he was convinced she was younger. He has been booked for assault.
He should have known better; you can only assault USFK soldiers on the subway and expect to get away with it. In fact you can assault, kidnap, beat, and force them to make coerced statements on national TV and get away with it.
SGT Han the CRC soldier convicted and sent to Korean prison for cheating on his wife and lieing to his mistress may have his prison sentence reduced if he can pay off his mistress:
After a U.S. soldier in trouble for his relationships with two Korean women offered a $21,500 payment to his wife, a South Korean judge dropped one of two charges against him.
Sgt. Jin-hong Han, an American, pleaded guilty in December to adultery and breaching a promise of marriage.
He was in Uijeongbu District Court on Friday to be sentenced on an appeal decision from Chief Judge Bae Jun-hyun. Han had appealed his sentence, saying he felt remorse for his actions and didn’t realize he was breaking local laws.
The judge dropped the adultery charge after hearing of Han’s settlement offer to his wife.
But Han told the judge that he has yet to find his ex-girlfriend to offer her a similar settlement, a common action common in South Korean criminal cases that can lessen a defendant’s final jail sentence.
What does the mistress think of this?:
Have you ever made any contacts with Kim Hyo-jin? the judge asked Han of his former girlfriend.
Ues, I have, Han said. But I wasn’t able to get through to her. I think that she is not in Korea.
So before issuing a final decision on Han’s current 10-month sentence, the judge gave Han two more weeks, postponing his sentencing until May 26.
Stripes, however, was able to contact Kim on Friday at a telephone number she said she’s used for years. She said she has not heard from Han.
He never intended to make any settlement with him; I never will, Kim told Stripes. Even if he would offer me billions and billions [of] won. I cannot forgive him because he completely destroyed my life and my future.
It looks like SGT Han better get used to jail for a little while longer.
Despite what the anti-US hate groups say the SOFA Agreement continues to work just fine:
Five soldiers were found guilty and sentenced to prison in Uijeongbu court on Tuesday for the Christmas-night assault and robbery of a taxi driver.
Pvt. Kidrem Cortez Porter, 21, received four years in prison, minus 67 days of time served at a Seoul detention center.
Four others received sentences of three and a half years in prison: Spc. Nicholas John Durkin, 21; Pfc. John D. McCall Jr., 21; Pvt. Javon Joshua Reid, 20; and Spc. Ivey Nathaniel Westbrook, 21, who received credit for two days of time served in detention.
You are all military personnel of the U.S. Army and therefore must respect Korean law,lead judge Cho Yun-shin said through an interpreter.
Pretty stiff sentences because I have seen plenty of people do far worse and receive less punishment through the Korean courts, but I really don’t feel sorry for them. Hopefully this will send a message and end these taxi cab related incidents.
The lawyer for the Camp Red Cloud Sergeant Jin-hong Han has now appealing to have his 10 month prison sentence reduced. However, his former wife and fooled fiance say that 10 months is not enough:
In the months and years they knew Han, he lied about his income, Army rank, marital status and intentions, both women said in separate phone interviews with Stars and Stripes recently.
Na, the wife, has polio and had hoped her marriage to a U.S. Army officer would bring her a more rewarding life. Kim, the girlfriend, said she gave up her job and home in Australia to return to Seoul and marry a man who made ¿rosy promises.
Now, Kim compares her dealings with Han to a movie or soap opera: Who on Earth can guess [this] absolute nightmare happened in my life? she said.
This case is just weird. Read the rest of the article to get the complete details.
This is why 18 year olds shouldn’t be at Hongdae at 4AM in the morning:
The first thing Jasmyn Chambers, 18, remembers from early morning Feb. 25 isn’t the pain of a jagged beer bottle slicing through her face. What struck her first was bewilderment.
She still has trouble understanding why a soldier, or any man, would slash a woman’s face so badly she would need 80 stitches.
“I can’t believe he’s a person that would do that to somebody,†said the Seoul American High School senior.
The accused soldier, Pfc. Christopher Myers, 20, of the 435th Medical Detachment at Camp Humphreys, is charged with multiple offenses including aggravated assault and underage drinking.
This soldier is undoubtedly going to face stiff military punishment and will possibly also be subjected to punishment from the Korean authorities as well. This guy has to got to be quite a scumbag to hit an 18 year old girl with a beer bottle.
Now why an 18 year old girl is clubbing at Hongdae, well that is open to debate.
