Are GI’s Really Getting Away with Murder?

Well known commenter USinKorea has posed an interesting question in regards to a debate he was having over on USFK Forums over the perceived notion that GI’s regulary get away with murder and crimes in Korea. Here is the question he has posed:

I want to know from you other people who have been to the ville and around GIs a lot more than I have….

Is what we see in the press just 1% of what goes on with 99% of the real crimes having the US authorities obstructing the Korean police?

What have you seen? Did you frequently see GIs busting bottles over the heads of Koreans and the MPs stepping in to save the GIs from the Korean police? (A specific claim in the discussion on the other site).

What has been your experience?

I have stated before that much of the petty crime that happens in the ville is not reported in the Korean media and why should it? For example a soldier steals a laptop computer from a drinky girl club and is caught. The Korean police will hand him over to the MPs to deal with even though they have jurisdiction over him. The KNPs don’t want to bother with the paperwork and since the property has been recovered and returned it is easier for the KNPs to let the US military deal with such violators. This is a scenario I have personally seen happen.

Another example would be someone caught urinating in public. Yes this pops up on the blotter from time to time. The KNPs have the authority to prosecute these cases if they want too but they don’t and let the military’s UCMJ process take over instead.

First of all, though much of the petty crime is not reported, but why should minor crimes like those described make the news at all? Why should some minor altercation with a taxi cab driver be splashed acrossed the nation’s newspapers when such incidents like this happen every day in Korea between Koreans? The only reason I can see such minor incidents receiving publicity is the desire of the media to convey an anti-GI message to the Korean public.

Secondly, people who think soldiers get off lightly for alcohol related offenses are sadly mistaken. It may look that way from the outside looking in when people only see the MPs take someone away but the reality is much different.

In my unit it is an automatic Field Grade Article 15 which leads to a loss of two ranks, pay, restriction to the unit area, and extra duty and a second offense will get you chaptered from the Army. Plus the loss of rank leads to additional loss of pay because if an E4 gets knocked down to an E2 he is losing about $700 a month and will probably take about a year to get back to E4. That means the soldier lost $8400 in one year, which is actually even more if the E4 was close to getting promoted to E5 and is now an E2 and this is on top of the money taken from him from the Article 15 which can be over a $1000. One alcohol related incident can quickly turn into one expensive night out in a hurry.

What happens to a drunk Korean that gets caught pushing a taxi driver or urinating on a building? I am willing to bet that they don’t receive the amount of punishment I have listed above if any punishment at all much less get media coverage.

Also the notion that GI’s get away with murder is also humorous when there is a Korean prison in Pyoengtaek with GI murderers sitting in it right now.

I would like to turn the tables and pose the question of how many Koreans are getting away with crimes against GI’s? For example let’s start with something simple like apartment owners keeping outrageous rental deposits knowing that the GI’s PCS date is coming up and he won’t be able to do anything about getting his money back once he is gone. Yes this is a common problem.

What about the soldiers that have been kidnapped in Dongducheon and beaten and robbed. I have in fact witnessed one assault in the TDC Ville three years ago when four Korean thugs beat the heck out of soldier knocking him unconcious with a brick and then flee when other soldiers nearby including myself responded. The MP’s arrived and took over and I don’t know what the fight was about or what started it, but the bottom line is that it was 4 on 1 and they used a brick to crack the soldier’s head open. Sounds like a crime to me.

An even more telling example is the rape of a female Army officer in Daegu? Where is the outrage, candle light vigils, and demands on the Korean police to find the rapists from the Korean media and public? This story has been conveniently hidden from the Korean media while everytime a GI scuffles with a taxi cab driver the amount of media coverage it receives you would think the GI is public enemy number one and a threat to the Korean nation; when in fact the real public enemy is a rapist that is still running around freely in Korean society.

You want more examples? How about the kidnapping and assault of the 2ID soldiers in 2002 who were riding on a Seoul subway when assaulted by an anti-American group and then dragged against their will, from the subway to a college campus and forced to make coerced statements on TV. What happened to the people that committed these crimes? Nothing. Could you imagine what would happen if me and a few of my buddies kidnapped and beat some Korean youths walking by Camp Casey and brought them on post and forced them to make anti-Korean statements on AFN? Sounds like a ridiculous scenario but it is exactly what the people that kidnapped those soldiers from the subway did and they recevied no punishment.

I could go on and on with examples, but I think I have made my point. Now should I condemn the entire Korean race because of the few criminals that have committed crimes against GI’s and got away with it? That would be ridiculous because I know Korea is a very safe country and I feel much safer walking down any street in Korea than I do walking down some streets in America. It is the same way with GI’s. The vast majority of GI’s aren’t bothering anyone but the few that do cause incidents get blown way out of proportion in the media. Imagine if the US media put on the front page every crime a Korean committed against US troops no matter how insignificant it was. The American public would quickly start demanding that US troops be brought home so it is no wonder that the Korean public has such a negative image of GI’s when the Korean media is the one causing it.

So when I hear people repeat the same tired and worn accusations of GI’s getting away with murder and crimes regularly in Korea without any proof; I can’t help, but feel cynical by such comments. Just last summer Korean newspapers were reporting that the SOFA Agreement was allowing all these US soldiers to get away with all these crimes that they cannot substantiate. But perception is stronger than reality and no matter how many orphanages or public works projects USFK undertakes, it will not be enough to overcome the biased Korean media. The best way to change the Korean media is to publicize crimes committed against Americans in the US media. Notice when the MacArthur statue protests in Inchon began to receive US media attention how quickly the Korean media jumped to condemn the protesters and no more protests have occurred at the statue since. The truth can be more powerful than perceptions if people are allowed to hear it.