Way long post
New York Times
September 14, 2002
South Korea: U.S. Soldiers Face Court-Martial
The United States Army headquarters in Seoul said two sergeants would be court-martialed on charges of negligent homicide in the deaths of two teenage girls who were run over by an armored vehicle during a training exercise on June 13. One sergeant, Mark Walker, was driving the vehicle while the other, Fernando Nino, was responsible for watching the road. The Army said other soldiers involved in the exercise faced administrative punishment for the accident, a focal point for anti-American protests demanding withdrawal of all 37,000 American troops from Korea. The United States command rejected a South Korean request to hand over the sergeants for prosecution by Korean courts.
--Don Kirk (NYT)
New York Times
September 16, 2002
Korean Mob Briefly Detains U.S. Soldier After Subway Fight
By Don Kirk
SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 15 — An American soldier was briefly abducted Saturday evening by an angry mob and forced to make apologies in a university stadium here, after a scuffle that broke out over the deaths of two Korean girls in June, United States military officials said here today.
The incident began in a Seoul subway car when the soldier refused to accept a leaflet that was being handed out about the teenage girls who had been hit by an American armored vehicle on June 13. The leaflet was in Korean, which the soldier, Pvt. John Murphy, could not read.
According to the United States Military Command, a Korean man punched Private Murphy, after he spurned the leaflet, and four other Koreans joined in the attack. Private Murphy then "allegedly struck" the man who had punched him, the officials said.
Korean newspapers identified that man as Suh Kyung Won, a former legislator who was jailed after going to North Korea without permission in 1988 and released four years ago. He is also a co-chairman of a committee focusing on the accident involving the girls. But the Korean accounts say that Private Murphy punched Mr. Suh first and that Mr. Suh was injured and sought treatment at the Kyunghee University hospital.
The United States command said that after the fight, Private Murphy and two other soldiers, Pvt. Eric Owens and Pvt. Shane Tucker, moved to another car on the subway train and got off at the next station.
As they tried to leave, American officials said, all three soldiers were "pulled, punched, kicked and spat upon by demonstrators."
The soldiers made their way to a Korean police barricades at nearby Kyunghee University, where two of them were taken into custody by the police, while the demonstrators "abducted Private Murphy and took him against his will to the university stadium," American officials said.
Private Murphy's captors forced him to watch a "memorial rally" that was being held at the university stadium for the girls who were killed by the armored vehicle, the United States command said. American officials said he "was photographed, videotaped and allegedly forced to make a public statement about the incident on the train."
The "public statement," the United States command said, repeated one of the protesters' central demands, that the United States waive jurisdiction over the two United States soldiers whose vehicle ran over the girls and turn them over to Korean authorities. On Friday, the command said an American military court would try the sergeants on charges of negligent homicide.
The demonstrators, led by members of Hanchongryon, a radical student organization that calls for the withdrawal of all 37,000 American troops from South Korea, took Private Murphy to the university hospital, where he was forced to apologize to Mr. Suh, according to the United States military command.
Private Murphy was later handed over by the demonstrators to the Korean police, who charged him with assault before returning him to American authorities along with the two other soldiers.
The United States Embassy and the United States Military Command lodged a joint protest tonight with the South Korean government over "the handling of this incident" by the Korean police, who American officials said failed to prevent the soldiers from being seized.
The United States command said "it is expected that charges of restraint against one's will and aggravated assault" would be filed against some of the demonstrators.
Korean officials had no comment on the incident. But President Kim Dae Jung, in a recent meeting with journalists affiliated with foreign news organizations, said he was worried that "there is a growing trend toward anti-American sentiment" and "maybe some people respond emotionally."
And one more that just happened probably won't help the situation
Korea Times
September 18, 2002
Man Killed In Crash With US Trailer
By Soh Ji-young, Staff Reporter
A civilian vehicle collided with a U.S. military vehicle on a road in Paju, Kyonggi Province late Monday night, instantly killing its driver, a 37-year-old South Korean man. No other injuries were reported.
The U.S. army M-920 tractor trailer was part of a convoy being led by military police escort when the accident occurred at 11:45 p.m., according to a press release by the 2nd Infantry Division.
Police are investigating the exact cause of the accident along with U.S. military police.
The U.S. Infantry Division said that the civilian vehicle, traveling at high speed, ``passed by the convoy escort vehicle, crossed into the lane of the M-920 and collided head-on.’’
It also said that the convoy was following several established safety procedures such as military police escort, positive radio control and putting on warning lights.
``The soldiers of the Second Infantry Division want to express their most sincere condolences to the family of the victim of this tragic accident,’’ said Col. Daniel Bolger, division chief of staff.
But local civic groups strongly questioned whether the civilian car was the only one at fault, as the USFK claimed.
``Although we will cannot release a formal statement until after the police investigation is completed, some aspects of the accident point to responsibility by the U.S. side,’’ said Ko Yoo-kyung, an activist at the National Campaign for Eradication of Crimes by U.S. Troops in Korea.
``The road where the accident occurred is 6.5 meters in width, making it virtually impossible for other cars to cross it, as the trailer and its cargo took up about 5 meters of space,’’ she contended.
``Why didn’t the U.S. control traffic on the roads or have the escort car stop the trailer after it saw the car approaching?’’ asked Ko.
