Category: crime & punishment

If you have ever wondered how much money is to be made black marketing items from a USFK PX this article should give you some idea:

Camp Long soldiers seeking anything beyond basic food and living products must now take one extra step before shopping — to catch a bus to Camp Eagle.

The remote installation’s Army and Air Force Exchange Service store closed Sept. 14, leaving the roughly 150 Camp Long-based soldiers waiting for an hourly shuttle bus to ride the seven miles to Eagle. […]

Officials say the store hemorrhaged money until it bled to death: Total sales dropped from about $2.77 million in 2004 to about $2.17 million in 2005. Sales dropped again to about $1.61 million in 2006 and, as of Sept. 10, sales for 2007 were only about $172,000, according to AAFES officials.

That meant earnings of $584,145 in 2004; $229,897 in 2005; $66,181 in 2006; and a loss of $16,919 for this year as of Sept. 10.

Army Maj. Bruce Townley, installation commander for Long and Eagle, said the reason the store lost so much money was that authorities busted a major black-market ring there last year. [Jimmy Norris, Stars & Stripes]

Here is my prior posting on the Camp Long black marketing ring.

The Camp Long PX is a small PX and was able to make $2.77 million in sales in 2004 and then once the black marketing ring was caught and shut down sales dropped to $172,000 this year.  That is a difference of $2,598,000 dollars.  Just think how much money the larger PXs and especially the commissaries are bringing in for the black marketers?  The amounts of money being made is mind boggling.

Is it any wonder why the AAFES employees black market when there is this much money to be made?  Additionally the punishments if you are caught are so light the black marketers really have very little to lose and a whole lot to gain.  For example the manger of the Camp Long PX received a year in jail but since he has been black marketing for years he is most likely a millionaire now.  A store employee received only a 10 month suspended sentence.  Who knows how much money he saved up during his time black marketing.

Since General Bell took over there seems to be an increased effort to crackdown on the black marketing, but this does beg the question of why a crackdown did not come long ago especially when the black marketers are so easy to identify.  I think that is a can of worms nobody wants to open now.

The above title is not something you will see headlining a Korean newspaper anytime soon, however when you compile the statistics it is true:

Five types of serious crimes _ murder, robbery, rape, theft and assault _ are on a steady rise in South Korea, while the ratio of arrests to those crimes is on a decline, the Korean National Police Agency said Monday.

The total number of those crimes committed nationwide rose from 455,840 in 2004 to 487,847 in 2005 and 489,575 in 2006, said the agency. [Korea Times]

After reading this article about rising Korean crime rates I decided to crunch the numbers and compare the ratio of total serious criminal offenses committed by Koreans to the ratio of total serious crime committed by foreigners in Korea. When a total population of 49 million South Korean citizens is divided by the total number of serious crimes of 489,575 the ratio is one crime per every 100 Korean people. Below is the raw statistics provided by the Korean National Police Agency:

Korean Crime Data 2006
Murder – 1,074
Robbery – 4,832
Rape – 8,759
Larceny – 192,808
Violence – 282,102
Total – 489,575

Now let’s compare this number to the foreign crime statistics for 2006. In 2006 there was a total of 3,701 total serious foreigner crimes. Recent headlines show that the foreigner population in Korea has exceeded 1 million for the first time ever for a grand total of 1,000,254 foreigners. The ratio of serious crime for foreigners in Korea comes to 1 crime out of every 270 foreigners. Below is the raw statistics for foreigner crime once again provided by the Korean National Police Agency:

Foreigner Crime in Korea 2006
Murder – 72
Robbery – 107
Rape – 68
Larceny – 971
Violence – 2483
Total – 3,701

Let’s look at these numbers again. For every 100 Koreans walking around in Korea there is at least one serious criminal while for every 270 foreigners walking around there is one serious criminal. The average person walking down the street in Korea is nearly three times more likely to have a serious crime committed against them by a fellow Korean than a foreigner.

Let’s break down the numbers even further by sub-categories.

The ratio for murders for Koreans is one murder for every 45,623 Koreans. The same murder ratio for foreigners comes out to one murder for every 13,892 foreigners. This murder ratio is much higher than the Korean murder ratio. Before any Korean citizens reading this begins to fear their kid’s hagwon teacher or the next GI they see walking down the street is going to murder them, keep in mind that in 2006 no Koreans were murdered by either a US soldier or a foreign English teacher. None. In fact a Korean has more recently murdered a GI than the other way around when Major David Berry was murdered in Itaewon by a crazed Korean man. I can’t even recall the last time a foreign English teacher murdered anyone. The murders that I have seen in the Korean news by foreigners against Koreans are coming from Chinese and third country national workers. Just for clarity once again I repeat that in 2006 not one English teacher or GI murdered a Korean. The kids can stay in the hagwon and the next GI you see walking down the street will not murder you.

Now let’s look at the robbery numbers. The ratio for robberies is one robber for every 10,140 Koreans. For foreigners the ratio comes out to 9,348. So you are slightly more likely to be robbed by a foreigner in Korea than by a Korean though once again this number is probably inflated by the 3D workers.

Here are the ratios for rape. There is one rapist for every 5,594 Koreans while there one rapist for every 14,709 foreigners. So the possibility of being raped by a Korean man is nearly three times greater than being raped by a foreigner.

Here are the ratios for larceny. Larceny is one person out of every 254 Koreans while for foreigners it is one person out of every 1,030 foreigners. So basically you are four times more likely to be ripped off by a Korean than by a foreigner. This shouldn’t be surprising at all considering the number of shady characters that have tried to rip me off in Korea before and this doesn’t even include the shady taxi drivers. I can only imagine what this number would be if they actually cracked down on the taxi drivers.

Finally let’s look at the violence ratio. There is one person committing an act of violence for every 173 Koreans. For foreigners it is one person committing an act of violence for every 402 foreigners. Koreans are about two and half times more likely to commit an act of violence than a foreigner.

So to summarize the average person walking down the street in Korea is per capita three times more likely to have a crime committed against them by a Korean, more likely to be murdered by a foreigner even though as I pointed out it wouldn’t be by a English teacher or a GI, slightly more likely to be robbed by a foreigner than a Korean, three times more likely to be raped by a Korean, four times more likely to be frauded by a Korean, and two and half times more likely to be assaulted by a Korean. Despite the wide spread media attention condemning foreigner crime in Korea it is quite clear foreigners are not a criminal problem in Korea outside of the murders being committed by 3D workers and a few thiefs. Statistically speaking if you live in Korea it is safer to hang out with those bastard GIs and the low quality foreign English teachers than the native Koreans. Who would have thought it?

I wonder if there will be a KBS2 special on this any time soon?

Note to anyone thinking of committing BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) fraud, IT DOES NOT WORK especially if you put San Francisco down as the home of residence:

A staff sergeant formerly assigned to Kunsan Air Base was sentenced to six months confinement and given a bad-conduct discharge earlier this month for housing allowance fraud and related charges.

Staff Sgt. Gwenda Z. Guika, 27, was court-martialed from Sept. 4 to 8 at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. She also was given a reduction in rank to E-1 and forfeiture of all pay.

Guika was charged with larceny of basic allowance for housing, seven counts of making false official statements and two specifications of dereliction of duty. Guika claimed her minor daughter was living in a suburb of San Francisco, and collected a housing allowance for that area. Her daughter actually was living in American Samoa, where housing allowances are lower, said Capt. James Lischer of Kunsan’s legal office.

Guika stole a little more than $2,600 between May 20, 2005, and April 25, 2006, Lischer said. She was stationed at Kunsan from April 2003 to April 2004, and again from May 2005 to June 2007, including 14 months when she was on administrative hold. [Stars & Stripes]

She is an airman so I’m not sure what inprocessing procedures they have but the last time I was stationed in the 2nd Infantry Division when I inprocessed they had a finance person give a briefing and then had everyone fill out their housing forms.  He gave a five minute brief that anyone that puts down an area that has a high BAH rate will be investigated by CID.  Especially if you put down San Francisco since it has the highest BAH rate in the country.  Yet despite being briefed people still commit BAH fraud and get booted from the military and get bad conduct discharges for stealing just a few thousand dollars.  It is not worth it.

The North Korean fifth column, Hanchongryon have now found their latest anti-US cause:

As many as 1,000 anti-American protesters are expected outside Camp Casey on Sept. 29, police officials confirmed this week.

Part of the protest centers on a 2nd Infantry Division soldier who was investigated in connection with a May 19 beauty shop fire outside the Camp Hovey gate. Uijeongbu prosecutors said this week that they don’t have enough evidence to charge Pvt. Dustin T. Roper with arson but that the Ministry of Justice likely will charge him for destruction of property and breaking and entering.

Roper also will appear in South Korean court on Oct. 8 for an unrelated assault trial, according to defense attorney Jung Jin-sung.

Anti-U.S. groups have noted on the Internet that no arson charge was filed and held a small protest rally in August. [Stars & Stripes]

Some of you may remember my earlier postings on the Beauty Shop Bandit which included a video of the son of the beauty shop owner protesting in front of the Blue House.  So what do these people want since the accused is being charged and investigated by the Korean authorities?  None other than the usual leftist talking point of changing the big bad SOFA Agreement:

“What I want is very clear,” said Choi Kang-sung, 31, the owner’s son. “Put [Roper] in Korea detention and get him a fair punishment.”

Choi said he also wanted a public apology, compensation and revision of the status of forces agreement.

He said he is a member of the minority, leftist Democratic Labor Party, which generally opposes U.S. presence in South Korea.

First of all why the heck is Choi and your leftist goons protesting in front of Camp Casey than?  Shouldn’t they be protesting in front of the police station or the Dongducheon city hall who are responsible for the charges and investigation?  Secondly, what does this have to do with the SOFA Agreement?  The soldier is being tried in Korean court.  Choi and his leftist goons will only be happy when the SOFA Agreement is changed to where every GI bastard accused of offending a Korean in anyway is sent to jail without trial.  Notice that Choi makes no demands for a fair trial.  He just wants the soldier thrown in jail and USFK to show him the money.  In short he wants the North Korean system of justice to prevail in South Korea which is no surprise coming from these leftist goons. 

You can read more over at Lost Nomad.

I posted yesterday why there was a drop in GI incidents this summer and now it appears things are about back to normal with a warrant officer convicted of cheating on his wife with a subordinate and a private convicted of assault in the TDC Ville.  Shockingly, alcohol was involved in both incidents. 

Courtesy of Korea Beat comes news that the old MRE scam is alive and well in 2ID:

On the 14th the Gyeongnam police department’s foreign affairs division has applied for an arrest warrant for a Mr. Park (43) on suspicion of selling US military rations on the internet without a license.  According to the police, since March of last year Park is suspected of selling 100 boxes, worth W50,000,000, of emergency rations from the 2nd Infantry Division stationed in Dongducheon to at least 80 people through the internet.

The police say the rations sold by Park were obtained from a person working in the US military and that the investigation is continuing. [Joong Ang Ilbo]

The scam used to be much worse a few years ago but crackdowns on the MRE scam beginning in the US where soldiers were convicted of selling MREs over E-Bay has improved accountability of MREs in the mility.  However, as this shows some MRE scams are still going on.  Some may wonder why in the world someone would want to buy MREs in Korea?  The MREs get sold in the marketplaces to primarily fishermen as well as some campers who want non-perishable food.  

The corruption in the Joong Ang Ilbo article probably involves someone working in one of the Camp Casey dining facilities that issue MREs.  It used to be easy to get MREs from the dining facility but in recent years accountability of the MREs has greatly improved but as this shows it has not improved enough. 

Another way the blackmarket gets MREs is when units go to the field each battalion has an "ajumma tent" assigned to them that sell Korean food to the soldiers.  This probably still goes on secretly because soldiers are not supposed to do this, but before soldiers could give ajumma an MRE for a cheesy ramyon meal.  That cheesy ramyon probably cost ajumma a dollar while she can sell the MRE she gained for five dollars.  Ajumma makes huge profits from the MREs, but like I said before this is not supposed to be going on anymore. 

A couple of rape cases that occurred months ago have now gone to trial.  Notice the difference in sentences between the two crimes.  The first involves a soldier from Camp Carroll that was tried in Korean court:

A U.S. soldier was sentenced Monday to three years in prison for raping a South Korean teenager.

The 8th U.S. Army identified him as Sgt. Singinn A. Lawson, a member of 2nd Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, based at Camp Carroll.

Lawson had been held in pre-trial confinement in the Daegu Detention Facility since June 29, according to 8th Army officials.

Daegu District Court officials said the teen was walking home in October 2006, when the soldier chased her down, beat and raped her. They refused to release her age, but other South Korean media reported she was 19. [Stars & Stripes]

The second case was tried in US military court:

A 6th Ordnance Battalion soldier was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison for raping a fellow soldier in January.

An all-male general court-martial panel also sentenced Spc. Darnell Gibson to a dishonorable discharge, reduction to the lowest rank of E-1 and forfeiture of all pay and allowances.

The panel deliberated for about three hours Wednesday night before finding Gibson guilty of rape and two specifications of indecent language. They found him not guilty of dereliction of duty and falsifying an official statement in connection with the rape. […]

The woman testified she and Gibson went to three off-base bars to drink, dance and play pool that evening. According to court testimony, Gibson became so drunk he had to be carried back to Camp Carroll by the victim and one of his friends. Military police gave the three a ride back to the barracks because Gibson was too drunk to walk, according to testimony.

The woman testified she was worried that Gibson would choke on his own vomit if left alone, so she went to his room to check on him. Gibson invited her to watch a movie and she testified she either passed out or fell asleep on his bed.

She told the court that she awoke to Gibson raping her. She said he stopped and said, “I’m going to go get some of my boys.” [Stars & Stripes]

The 35th ADA soldier hunted down the Korean woman beat her and raped her and showed no remorse for his crime and received less time than the soldier who got involved in the typical drunken barracks rape.  This is a perfect example of the differences in justice in regards to rape in Korea.  At least the soldier in the Korean court case received a three year sentence, when Koreans rape foreigners and female soldiers they are usually allowed to go free. 

A really quiet month for USFK in August probably due to UFL, but overall the entire summer has been very quiet. Notice that when there is a period of very few GI incidents no one brings up how well behaved the servicemembers are? However, when one servicemember does something stupid than people start talking about the military recruiting a bunch of gangbangers and how the soldiers should all be locked down on post. Also if you look at the complete GI crime statistics I have been compiling, you can see that the majority of the incidents in 2007 have occured outside of 2ID. Yet when 2ID has an incident all you often hear is how out of control 2ID is. When you look at the actual compiled stats 2ID is more behaved then the units down south it just that they have the memorable incidents.

Something that is of concern is again there was two more DUIs in August making it a total of eight DUIs in 5 months. That is not a good statistics and a ticking time bomb in my opinion for the Korean media to jump on once they get through bashing “low quality foreign English teachers“.

The entire results can be read below the fold:

(more…)

That is what this man claims:

He claims that his mother’s beauty shop in Toko-ri outside of Camp Hovey was burned down by a US soldier and the Korean police are covering it up. They have no money and are living out on the street and want the Korean government and police to do something about it. His video is currently the second most popular video on Daum.

This story was actually reported back in May by the Stars & Stripes and subsequently posted here as well. This case I seriously doubt it is a cover up by the Korean police and more likely not being pursued due to a lack of evidence.

A US soldier was picked up near the scene and was out past curfew, which is not a good thing and a sign of trouble. The local police brought him in for questioning and took his clothes for forensic testing. There was video tape of the supposed arsonist as well. There was plenty of evidence available, but I assuming none of it could link the soldier they picked up to the crime in question and possibly someone else did it.

Korean police do not cover up big GI crimes like this. I have seen Korean police turn over GIs to the MPs for small incidents like pissing of buildings, stealing a laptop from a bar, or a fight in the ville but never for something serious as this. If anything Korean police arrest and convict soldiers with dubious evidence as we have seen time and again.

The guy in the video claims he saw the soldier standing outside the building watching the fire. How does that confirm he started the fire? He could have just been walking by and saw the fire. If a GI did it I’m sure the Korean police would be doing everything possible to find out who it is and if it is a GI that burned the place down I hoped he is caught and quickly sent to Choenan where he belongs.

However with the claim that the police aren’t investigating a GI criminal anymore by this man leads me to believe the police have ruled out a GI criminal and have instead focused on another cause for the fire.

I actually posted on this last month about how trademark violations was a strange offense to be convicted of in Korea and now the Stars and Stripes has the details about what happened:

Customs officials at Incheon International Airport said Tuesday they investigated six U.S. servicemembers in early June for trying to bring counterfeit watches and purses into South Korea from China.

The servicemembers — a mix of men and women, officers and enlisted personnel — carried between 30 and 70 items each as they returned from a private trip to China, officials said during a phone interview. [Stars & Stripes]

Sounds like these soldiers had quite a shopping trip.  I understand enforcing trademark laws but does anyone think Korean customs would care if these soldiers bought these counterfeit watches and purses from Itaewon?  Of course not, this is just an example of if you are going to buy counterfeit goods you must buy Korean counterfeit goods, not Chinese.  That is the real crime these soldiers committed.