Korean People’s Struggle to Eradicate the Crimes by U.S. Army Troops in Korea

On Oct. 28, 1992, Ms Kum-E Yoon,a Korean woman, was murdered in Dongduchan, about 30 km north of Seoul, Korea, by Pvt. Kenneth Markle, a soldier with the U.S. Army’s 2nd Division in Dongduchan. She was found with a cola bottle embedded in her uterus, an umbrella stuck 27 cm, into her rectum, and detergent powder poured over her bloody body.

The unmerciful and cruel crime, committed by a soldier whose commander insists that they came here to defend the freedom of Korea, shocked and angered the Korean people once again, as the worst of a long string of crimes perpetrated by U.S. military personnel in Korea during the last 40 years.

The Kum-E Yoon case awakened the Korean people to undertake fundamental measures to prevent such U.S. Army crimes. Forty six organizations from various circles of Korean society including political parties, women, clergy, students, workers, and farmer, organized a Joint Commission for Counter-Measures Regarding the Miss Kum-E Yoon murder case. The Commission has staged such activities as press conferences, visits to the Korean prosecutor and the Ministry of Justice, the U.S. Ambassador and the Commander of U.S. Army in Korea, and a signature campaign demanding the sincere attitude of the official apology of the Commander of the U.S. Army in Korea and the U.S. Ambassador.

Not only the Korean people but also many distinguished people and organizations in U.S.A., have supported the movement and promised action in solidarity. As a result, at the district court, the truth of the case was proved, relatively easily and the murderer was sentenced to life imprisonment. But at the appeal court, his term was reduced to 15 years imprisonment.

Again, he made an appeal to the supreme court. He is now in the U.S. Army prison in Pyungtaek.

Now, before Korean people had time to recover from the shock of Miss Yoon case, they have been confronted with another case of violent crime by the U.S. military. At 11:00 AM on May 29, 1993, Mrs. Kim Kook-Hye, a 51-year old owner of a small beer hall, was found unconscious with serious wounds on her face and her head, with her underwear and panty stockings stripped from her legs. She was brought to the hospital, and underwent surgical operation on her brain. Fortunately, she recovered consciousness after four months of hospitalization, but she has mental disorder.

Korean police arrested Corporal John Roger Saloy. He belongs to the 2nd Infantry Division in Dongduchun. To the police, he confessed some parts of his crime, stating that he beat her into unconsciousness fearing injury from her Taekwondo-style counter-attack.

Though he denied it, according to the conditions at the scene of the crime, the judge accepted that he beaten her because she strongly resisted his attempt to rape her, and raped her finally. At the district court, he was sentenced to 10-years imprisonment. But he made an appeal to the appeal court.

This case is very similar to the Kum-E Yoon case, with only one difference: that Mrs. Kim is still breathing. Mrs. Kim is alone since the death of her husband, and worked at the restaurant 14 hrs a day in order to support her two children.

Numerous crimes have been committed by U.S. soldiers in Korea since September 8, 1945, when the U.S. Army was first stationed in Korea. These crimes have ranged from traffic accidents to swindling, selling contraband goods and drugs, violence, robbery, rape and murder. According to the statistics in a Korean government document submitted to the national Assembly in 1988 entitled "Chronology of Crimes by the U.S. Army in Korea and Their Disposal," the total number of cases during the 20 years from 1967 to 1987 was 39,452 and the implicated soldiers numbered 45,183 (in other words, 5 cases per day).

According to the recent document which the Ministry of Justice submitted to the National Assembly on October 4, 1993, the total number of cases from October 1992 to August 1993 were 850. Among them only 10 cases were dealt with by the Korean court.

The fundamental reason for the frequency of crimes by U.S. Army personnel is the low quality of the army. In 1964, Mr. Amst. W. Caston, chaplain of the U.S. Army in Korea, reported that 90% of the U.S. troops in Korea exhibit effects of immoral life styles, having venereal diseases and using illegal drugs. These statistics are somewhat out-dated, but when we observe that the number of the crimes have never decreased since then, we can find no proof that the quality of the U.S. Army has improved. Another reason for the high crime level is the unfair and lopsided S.O.F.A(the Status Of Forces Agreement).

Therefore, in order to eradicate crimes by the U.S. Army in Korea, the quality of personnel should be checked carefully, and the lopsided S.O.F.A. should be revised as soon as possible.

We, Korean people, can no longer endure the crimes committed by the U.S. military troops, which damage our national pride and dignity.

We think that the recent increasing anti-American sentiment among the Korean people is also related to the inhumane crimes by U.S troops.

The representatives of the Kum-E Yoon commission visited U.S. Embassy and delivered written protests to the commander of U.S. Army in Korea. In the letters, they made four demands.

First, a sincere apology to the Korean people and toe the family of Miss Yoon.

Second, the U.S. authorities should compensate the family of the victim.

Third, after finishing the trial, the murderer should be surrendered to Korean prison.

Fourth, the U.S. and Korean governments should prepare legal and constitutional moves including revision of S.O.F.A. fro eradication of crimes by U.S. military forces in Korea.

But U.S. Embassy authorities only gave insubstantial response.Therefore, on June 17, 1993, the Commission sent a written appeal to Mr. Clinton, U.S. President, to solve the issue peacefully and reasonably. In the letter they wrote:

"Now we realize that it is not fruitful to continue efforts for dialogue with your Embassy, and have determined to deliver our opinion and appeal to the responsible authority of your country, especially you as President, to take a definite position on the issue, and enforce reasonable counter-measures. If such crimes as the Kum-E Yoon case and Kook-Hye Kim case happen again without any sign of a sincere attitude by you or other U.S. official, then the anti-American sentiment among Korean people will increase to the degree that healthy relations will be difficult to restore"

"Mr. President,

first of all, we appeal that you, as Supreme Commander of the U.S. Army, should apologize officially to our people.

Second, you should take substantial counter-measures to eradicate crimes by your military troops in Korea.

Third, S.O.F.A should be revised fairly, as soon as possible."

"We expect your wise decision to prevent any unhappy incident between our two countries. If not, we will stage a campaign for positive changes in solidarity with people of conscience of both our countries."

In this case also, there was no answer at all. At the insincerity of the U.S. authorities, the people realized that the struggle to eradicate the crimes by U.S. Army personnel need time and endurance.

On October 26, 1993, the Commission was reorganized into a permanent establishment entitled the National Campaign for Eradication of Crimes by U.S. Troops in Korea. In this national body, 23 national organizations joined as members.

The national campaign is led by five joint chairpersons, and General Committee which consists of representatives from the 23 member organizations.

Under this committee there is an Executive Committee and 5 working committees. They are:

(The address of the National Campaign is #708 Christian Bld, 136-46 Yonji-dong, Chongro-ku, Seoul, Tel: 82-2-744-1211, Fax: 82-2-744-6189)