Tag: Itaewon

I can remember the 2001 St. Patrick’s Day night that the American student Jamie Penich was murdered in Itaewon very clearly because I was out on the town that night and actually visited the bar that Penich was last at, though not at the same time so I never saw her. The murder definitely sent waves through the USFK community because it was suspected that a USFK servicemember was the person responsible for the murder. Many servicemembers were questioned about what they saw in Itaewon that night but no arrests were ever made.

This case took so many twists and turns that it could be made into a movie, but ultimately Penich’s friend was the only person charged with the murder which included allegations of lesbianism and a confession from the suspected killer to US authorities. However, the case continued to take more twists and turns as the suspected murderer withdrew her confession during the Korean court trial and was found innocent and now that not guilty verdict has been upheld:

The Supreme Court upheld yesterday a lower court ruling acquitting an American student on charges of murdering another U.S. student in Korea in 2001. The court said there was insufficient evidence to convict Kenzi Snider, 24, of killing Jamie Lynn Penich. Ms. Snider had been accused of beating Ms. Penich to death in a motel in Itaewon in March 2001.

The court said it did not accept Ms. Snider’s confession to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation because it was later retracted. After questioning in Korea, Ms. Snider was questioned by the F.B.I. in the United States and confessed to the murder. Extradited to Korea in 2002, Ms. Snider disavowed her confession at her trial here. The court said evidence from another country’s authorities is only admissible if the suspect confirms it to a court here.

I highly recommend that everyone read this Court TV report on the murder because the twists and turns this case takes is truly amazing, while the murderer is still at large. I wonder if the authorities could have solved this murder if they didn’t just focus on the GI murderer stereotype from the beginning of this case like they did? There will probably never be any justice for Jamie Penich’s family, but read the report to draw your own conclusions.

This editorial in the Korea Times claims that the Hollywood Bar in Itaewon is racists towards black people:

It was my girlfriend’s birthday, and I was throwing her a surprise party. I had invited all of our close friends, including her cousin. Among our friends, there were three guys from Nigeria. Shortly after we arrived, an argument erupted between our Nigerian friends and the bartender. I asked why, and they explained to me that the bar security was asking for their IDs and that the bartender wouldn’t sell them any drinks because they are from Nigeria and they are black.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, so I asked to speak to the manager. I met up with him and I told him that the three Nigerian gentlemen were my friends, and we _ a group of about 25 people _ were celebrating my girlfriend’s birthday. “I invited them to the party, so please do not mess up our party,’’ I pleaded.

He said that they would have to leave the bar, because Hollywood bar does not serve Nigerians or black people in general. I told him not to be such a racist. He said, “We do not serve black people in this bar.” I honestly couldn’t believe this was happening, and so I said that if they had to leave, we would all leave.

I have never been to the Hollywood Bar before and after reading this I probably won’t ever go there, but I did a little checking on Google about the Hollywood Bar and found this from the Korea Herald:

Upstairs, separate owner of Hollywood Bar and Grill, American Barry Dorscher banned GIs three years ago. “If you let GIs in, every week you’re fixing you’re bathroom, because they bust it up,” he said, suggesting the bans were less driven by racism than by the old adage about oil and water.

So I guess GI’s aren’t welcome there as well. This same article had a few other interesting quotes in it as well:

“So many GIs have drugs. Now that’s gone,” said another club owner, preferring not to be named. “SOFA is a big problem. Whenever a fight broke out the military police would come but they couldn’t touch the GIs because of the law.” He also mentioned that the ban wasn’t entirely a Korean initiative. USFK personnel came and met the two heads of the Hongdae club conglomerate before the ban was implemented.

This whole SOFA thing is so frustrating because the Korean police have the right to arrest any GI that gets in a fight off duty at the club. Why people keep saying in the media GIs cannot be arrested due to the SOFA is complete disinformation. Here is some more interesting stuff:

In Geckos, a group of U.S. soldiers are drinking beer. One of them says he loves Hodge Podge (in Hongdae), but he can’t go there.

“We were told to watch out for a group of Koreans who would pick a fight with a GI while his friend’s in the background with a camcorder, for propaganda,” he said, on condition of anonymity.

His friend K.P. said everything got worse after two Korean girls were killed by a U.S. military vehicle last June. He lifted his shirt to show a scar on his chest where a 17-year-old girl cut him with a razor blade at an established hotel nightclub, “yelling something about killing babies.” Seven months ago, a young Korean pulled a knife on him in a subway saying Americans were tearing North and South Korea apart.

This article was before the Shinchon stabbing incident. It is too bad the soldiers involved in that incident didn’t listen to the command message being put out to avoid Hongdae because of the groups looking to provoke fights with US soldiers for propaganda purposes. Pvt. Humphrey wouldn’t be sitting in jail right now if he would have obeyed the off limits order.

The altercation that the soldier talks about is interesting because during the 2003 time period there were other attempted stabbings of soldiers. The stabbings of course got very little if any press, but it just makes me wonder if the same people were committing the stabbings?

Anyway if you have any insights or stories about the Hollywood Bar please feel free to leave a comment.