Justice or revenge?
Since 9/11, a strange but virulent anti-Americanism has gripped South Korea. I say strange because it is fueled by a cocktail of petty and sometimes absurd reasons: an Olympic medal controversy, a deal to sell fighter jets, steel tariffs, construction of new apartments on U.S. bases, Bush¡¯s comments on North Korea and even soccer.
Stirring the mix are cadres of well-funded media-savvy anti-U.S. NGOs who have no qualms about exaggerating and even bending the truth to smear the United States.
Many Korean pundits, however, from the left and right say the underlying reason Uncle Sam is about as popular as the plague here is because of a paradigm shift in the minds of a new generation of South Koreans. The Korea Herald explained it as a function of ¡°Koreans' increased pride in themselves thanks to economic and political development.¡± In short, hating America now equals having pride in Korea.
A long term American expat in South Korea, however, in my humble opinion, hits the nail dead center with his take: ¡°Anti-Americanism is suddenly fashionable in South Korea, and South Koreans are very fashion conscious.¡±
I call this new bad attitude virulent because it has produced boycotts of American products, cyber attacks on U.S. websites, a trashing of the offices of the American Chamber of Commerce in Seoul by college kids, harassment of U.S. businesses and a refusal by South Korea to honor its mutual defense treaty with the U.S. in Afghanistan.
But it appears the two biggest victims are going to be two American soldiers. Sent to South Korea to defend it at the expense of American taxpayers, the men find themselves the focus of what can only be described as an anti-American witch-hunt.
And to make matters worse, it appears that U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) and the U.S. State Department are willing to sacrifice the two soldiers to the South Korean mobs demanding their blood.
A terrible tragedy
On June 13, 2002, two teenage girls, Shim Mi-Son and Shin Hyo-sun were struck and killed by an AVLB (an M-60 tank designed to carry a tank bridge) driven by two U.S. soldiers. The girls¡¯horrible deaths is a source of unimaginable pain and sadness for their parents and relatives, friends and neighbors.
Sergeant Mike Walker and Sergeant Fernando Nino of the 8th U.S. Army 2nd Infantry Division were the two American soldiers who were driving that tank down the narrow road near the village of Yangju on june 13. Their vehicle was part of an armored convoy on its way to a training site near the DMZ, the heavily fortified border which separates South Korea and North Korea.
According to media reports, the tank was wider then the lane which forced the tracks into the area where the girls were walking on the shoulder of the road. The driver of the tank, Walker, was unable to see the girls because the bridge laying apparatus obstructed his view. The track commander, Nino saw the girls and tried to warn Walker, but couldn¡¯t because Walker had his radio system set to talk to his company commander.
Public demands American blood
The USFK responded to the deaths immediately. The convoy¡¯s entire unit held a candle light vigil that was not covered (surprise, surprise) by the Korean press. An immediate joint ROK-U.S. investigation was launched. Initial results found that the soldiers had not acted intentionally or negligently. Nevertheless, USFK commander General Leon J. LaPorte issued an apology to the families and said the U.S. would engage in negotiations for compensation with the families.
This did not placate an angry and very anti-American public that had been bombarded with images of the two girls. Newspaper editorials decried the USFK¡¯s ¡°lack of sincerity,¡± although they could find no fault with their inquiry. Korean politicians from across the political spectrum jumped on the bandwagon.
The NGOs made crystal clear their thoughts on the incident: they called it cold-blooded murder. Sites like antimigun.org (the name is translated as anti-U.S. soldier) have bulletin boards with thousands of posts calling for the American dogs to be put to death. Soldiers at Camp Red Cloud, the home of Walker and Nino, have been assaulted by these ¡°activists,¡± though the police have filed no charges against their attackers, even though they are brazenly posting video images of the assaults on the Internet.
They have infuriated the public by spreading outright lies on their websites, such as the ficticious story that Walker joked about the deaths on base the next day and this sparked a brawl between Korean soldiers serving on the base and Americans. To the USFK's chagrin, most Korean young people believe this sick and absurd lie because for year they have been falsely told that U.S. sodiers in Korea are not punished for their crimes.
Justice system hijacked by politicians
Apparently in response to the outcry, the USFK changed course and sought a court martial of Nino and Walker and filed charges of criminally negligent homicide. Strangely, at the same time the USFK issued new guidelines ¡°to prevent further accidents.¡± But if the accident was caused by Walker and Nino¡¯s gross recklessness, why would there be any cause to change the system?
In a development that boggles the mind, U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Thomas Hubbard was quoted in the Korea Times as having said that the two U.S. soldiers were criminally negligent and that they would be prosecuted and indicted. I guess innocent until proven guilty is something that American boys shed with their hair at boot camp.
Why didn¡¯t Hubbard voice concerns that the severe anti-American climate was an obstacle to justice? (Note: this is the same spineless nitwit who told the Korean press he hoped the U.S. would lose against Korea in the World Cup to avoid a conflagration of anti-U.S. hatred.)
The Korean government is now pushing for jurisdiction in the case. Under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that lays out the legal rights of U.S. soldiers in South Korea, the USFK has jurisdiction over all alleged crimes committed by U.S. servicemen while they are performing their official duties.
The Korean government, with rare support from the opposition Grand National Party, is not letting go. Politicians demand custody of Walker and Nino and wants to try them in a Korean court.
They want to parade the Americans head bowed past the mob of demonstrators. They want the image of a senior Korean prosecutor grilling them on the evening news. In short, they want to prove what proud Koreans they are.
by Ben Eller
Seoul
Justice or revenge?