Driver To Be Charge With Accidental Homicide
The driver of the US Army vehicle that hit and fatally injured an elderly Korean woman is to be charged with accidental homicide by the Korean police. How a traffic accident can be defined as homicide is beyond me. Would a Korean driver be charge with homicide? Anyway what is especially strange about this is that the family has already forgiven the US soldier and does not want to press any charges:
“We hate to see the driver suffer or go through life difficulties through this accident,†he said. “Even though he was warned by the co-driver twice to be careful, the noise prevented him from hearing the warnings. We do not believe he did it on purpose. He was a young soldier, far from home and defending South Korea. The last thing we want is for the driver to be punished.â€
These charges are more than likely just a show to appease the protestors and I would not expect to much to come from it. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if some kind of military legal action was taken.
Also, more details are emerging about some of the specifics of the accident:
Lee said the victim’s sister-in-law, Shun In-ja, said she jaywalked across the road in between vehicles stopped at the stoplight in front of her store. As she began cleaning the sidewalk, she heard Kim being run over. Lee said it appeared that Kim was following Shun across the street when she was struck.
It is quite obvious that the victim was negligent by jaywalking across the road especially in between cars at a traffic light. However, this is not uncommon in Korea and anyone driving a vehicle in Korea needs to be especially concious of this and be on the lookout for any threats from wayward pedestrians. It is not right but that is just the reality here in Korea. The soldiers involved in the accident will more than likely receive some kind of punishment through the military for not being vigilant enough in their duties to avoid hitting the pedestrian.
How could the PVT be charged by KNP if this accident was Duty related? He can only be charged by US UCMJ. Under SOFA, can a soldier be charged by KNP but never be brought to South Korean court system?
GI, your post shows ignorance of how the Korean law works. Traffic accidents causing death are considered crime in Korea. Even if this is not your fault. Then it is up to the parties involved to negotiate the settlement money. If the settlement is not settled, then the Korean law gets involved. If all fails, whoever the one who accidentally killed, goes to jail. And this is why Korea is one of the most safest country in the world, yet have one of the highest crime rate in the world.
I posted a longer version of this comment on my blog.
http://www.koreasojourner.blog-city.com/usfk_traf…
The one commenter is partially right on how it works. A Korean can be arrested if after a reasonable amount of time, the two parties can't come to a monetary agreement.
However, I am 100% sure USFK has already been in negociations with the family, and it would not suprise me if settlement money has not already been paid. USFK is used to this process. Maybe GI Korea can find out about this for us?
Next, the article says the Korean prosecutor is "recommending" the Korean court order an arrest and trial.
This is simply an easy opportunity for the local government, where so many US (and Korean) military bases are located, to put pressure on USFK. The local gov knows the case will be handled by USFK as per the SOFA, but by asking USFK to give up jurisdiction and recommending the Korean court put out an arrest warrant anyway, they can annoy USFK and motivate the anti-USFK sentiment (in the local government and the society in general).
In short, it is a way to strike back at the USFK they continually say is bad for Korea.
That is why they kept the 2000 water dumping case going for years — eventually holding a criminal trial against the USFK civilian worker despite the fact they could not lay hands on him to put him in Korean custody.
So, the idea that the local Korean government is simply following the proceedures it would if he were a Korean doesn't work from what I know.
I know Korean traffic laws very well. As long as you reach a settlement with the family more than likely no legal action will take place.
The settlement is going to be reached and the family has already received $5000 from the Army. So the recommendation to press charges is just obviously a ploy to appease the protestors because a Korean would never be charged this quickly if that person reached a settlement.
Plus the family doesn't want charges pressed against the driver. If it was a Korean driver and the victim's family said they didn't want charges pressed against that person do you think the police would still press charges even after a settlement is reached?
I think not, so obviously the police don't want to deal with the protestors so it is easier for them to recommend some charges which they already know nothing will become of because of the SOFA agreement so when the protestors complain about no action taken the cops can say they tried to take action but the SOFA agreement doesn't let them.