Idiots
Two U.S. soldiers were arrested on charges of assaulting a South Korean taxi driver and two bystanders on Friday night, with a third suspect having fled the scene, the police said Saturday.
The three suspects, all of whom belong to the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division, climbed on top of a taxi waiting at traffic lights and proceeded to run amuck, according to the police.
First let’s see if this is true or not as eyewitness accounts especially here in Korea aren’t always accurate. But if this is true these idiots need to have the book thrown at them especially on the heels of last week’s incident in Uijongbu where two soldiers have turned themselves in for questioning concerning the beer bottle assault of a Korean civilian.
Sorry, looks like we both posted about this. I'd really like to hear from you as to what you think is the cause of all these incidents lately – you can email me if you'd like (LostNomad[at]gmail.com.
My question is – why is all this crap happening up in 2 ID? There has to be a root cause for the soldiers acting like this because we don't hear about military personnel from the other areas making asses out of themselves. I have my suspicions but I'd like to hear from someone that lives and works up there, like yourself.
This is almost a carbon copy of an incident not that long ago — being on top of a taxi and so on.
Further back, it seems taxis are frequently involved.
And I don't offer this as a conclusion or pointing to one, but taxi drivers aren't thought of well in Korean society in general.
Since it involved a taxi driver that is why I say we should reserve judgement because I have had one to many run ins with taxi drivers myself who make up stories to get money out of GIs. Especially around curfew time where they know the GIs got to get back to post and that is when they will really try to find ways to extort GIs.
On a side but related note, I found a case going back to 1988 or 89 where a US NCO was tried in a Korean court and found guilty for an assault on a Korean. It was a taxi cabbie story. The GI slammed the cabbie to the ground during the fight, and it put the guy into a comma, from what I remember, and the GI was convicted for it.
I also saw a note of a serial killer who was a GI who was put in a Korean jail after being convicted by a Korean court in the late 1970s.
But, even not so politically minded or anti-US Koreans have the common notion in Korea that US soldiers "never" stand trial in Korea.