Military to retain authority over GIs in deaths of Korean teens

Stars and Stripes Pacific edition ^ | August 9, 2002 | Jim Lea

[robowombat]

Military to retain authority over GIs in deaths of Korean teens

By Jim Lea, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Friday, August 9, 2002

The U.S. military in South Korea announced on Wednesday it will retain jurisdiction over two 2nd Infantry Division soldiers involved in the controversial June 13 accident in which two teenaged Korean girls were run over and killed by a tracked armored vehicle.

Lt. Gen. Daniel R. Zanini, 8th Army commander and U.S. Forces Korea chief of staff, said in a written statement that USFK “has determined that when the tragic accident occurred, the soldiers were performing their official duties while participating in an authorized training event.

“Based on that, it is appropriate that USFK retain jurisdiction,” Zanini said.

The Status of Forces Agreement that governs the U.S. military presence in South Korea gives the military primary jurisdiction in accidents that occur in the line of duty. However, the agreement gives the Korean government the right to request a waiver in such cases. The Korean Justice Ministry last month asked that a waiver be granted to allow the two soldiers involved to be tried in Korean court.

That request came in the face of mounting public demands that the soldiers be tried by Korean authorities. A number of protests, some violent, have been held at the gates to several U.S. camps since the accident occurred. Student activists and members of civic groups have demanded the soldiers be tried in Korean court, that the Status of Forces Agreement be revised and that the 37,000 American troops in the country be withdrawn.

Korean prosecutors in Uijongbu, where the division is headquartered 15 miles north of Seoul, were not immediately available for comment on the decision.

Zanini said in his statement that it “is significant that results of the Uijongbu prosecutor’s investigation into the case are basically consistent with the results of our investigation.” Both USFK and Korean prosecutors determined that the deaths were accidental.

As to the request for waiver of jurisdiction, Col. Kent Meyer, USFK’s Judge Advocate, said the United States has never waived primary jurisdiction in an official-duty case under the provisions of Status of Forces Agreements it has with South Korea, Japan and the NATO alliance in Europe.

“The one instance in which waiver of jurisdiction occurred was in Japan in 1957 before the U.S.-Japan SOFA was negotiated,” Meyer said. “In that case the act was intentional, not an accident like the current situation here in Korea, where it is indisputable that the individuals involved were clearly acting in the performance of their official duties.”

The two girls — Shim Mi-son and Shin Hyo-sun, both 14 — were run over by a 57-ton armored vehicle on Highway 56, less than a mile from their homes in Hyochon Village, 15 miles north of Seoul. The vehicle, driven by Sgt. Mark Walker, 36, was taking part in a training exercise at the nearby Twin Bridges training area.

At the time of the accident, Walker’s vehicle was in a convoy of five vehicles and was being passed by a convoy of Bradley Fighting Vehicles traveling in the opposite direction. Walker and Sgt. Fernando Nino, the vehicle commander, have been charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with negligent homicide and are awaiting trial by court-martial. No date for the trial has been set, however.

Both men are assigned to B Company of the Division’s 44th Engineer Battalion.

USFK said without elaboration that administrative action against others in the chain of command also is being considered.

In his statement on Wednesday, Zanini issued the latest of numerous statements of remorse and regret he and other U.S. military and diplomatic officials have made for the accident.

[robowombat]

Some time ago there was a post on this incident when charges were prefferred against two US soldiers in a double fatality vehicle pedestrian accident in the ROK. In the followup the 8th Army invokes the US-ROK Status of Forces Agreement in fatal accident. The US vehicle was apparently the engineering vehicle which is built on the M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier chassis and frame. Does anyone know anything about how the two females got run over? Were they dodging between vehicles going both ways trying to cross the road?

[2banana]

Just wondering if S Korea will repay us for these deaths in defending their country:

According to Headquarters, Eight U.S. Army, Korea, June 26, 1996, 60 US servicemen died as a result of post-war North Korean “Hostile” actions between August 17, 1955 and December 17, 1994.

In addition, according to VFW Magazine, August 1996 and the Naval Military Personnel Command, 30 Navy personnel and one Marine were shot down in an EC-121 aircraft on April 15, 1969 over the Sea of Japan; and, one seaman was killed in the USS Pueblo incident off the coast of Korea in January 1968.

[madvlad]

If these soldiers were in the performance of their
official duties and the deaths were accidental,
how is it that they can be court martialled
for negligent homicide? Seems like no crime was
committed here.

Insights?

Mad Vlad

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The NK's still have the Pueblo, which is a shame. We should have taken it out years ago.

[Seruzawa]

Looks like Korea has NK enemy agents stirring up useful idiots just like the Commies did on US campuses during the Vietnam War.

[2banana]

It is actually in a muesum in the capital of North Korea (Pyongyang)

[TADSLOS]

Here's the type vehicle in question, an M113 variant for breaching operations:

Here's another link to the story with a few more details:Soldiers Charged

It appears the vehicle commander was probably distracted with his radio and an oncoming Bradley IFV convoy and failed to see the girls as he drove forward. It's a tragedy, but not an uncommon one in Korea.

[RabidBartender]

While I am not certain about this case, I have served three tours in Korea in the past 12 years and have noticed a lot of behavior we would consider odd.

Often, people will walk on the road (towards the side) and disregard traffic, expecting it to stop for them or go around. While it is increasingly frustrating, it is their country and their ways.

The big commotion is being caused by the increasing anti-American sentiment that is growing across South Korea. The older Koreans, for the most part, want our military there and appreciate what we do. The younger ones (already angry that they have to serve a mandatory 2 years in the military or police), weren't around during the fighting days of the Korean War and can't comprehend why their country has an 'occupying' force. To them I say: "At least you have a country".

These younger Koreans(in the urban areas, at least) are similar to our anti-war protestors, and leap at any opportunity to hold marches, often leading to rock-throwing with an occasional Molotov thrown in for good measure. Then CNN usually shows up in time to see the police shooting tear gas cannisters at them.

LOL...I just remembered something called "The Hand". Anyone who has served in Korea (post '80s) should remember "The Hand". When a pedestrian wishes to cross a street (not necessarily a highway or high-speed road), he will often put his hand out (while he looks the other way) to motion you to stop so he can cross. Drivers roll down their windows and use "The Hand" at times to change lanes in traffic jams. LOL.