USFK taxi driver fixation continues

by Robert Koehler on June 14, 2006

in Stupid Foreigner Tricks

Houston, we have a problem. According to Stars & Stripes (via the Lost Nomad), two U.S. servicemen in Chuncheon stand accused of—you may want to sit down for this, Oranckay—throwing a bicycle at a taxi as it sat at a red light.

It’s kind of funny he should post that today, because as I was surfing around Naver.com, one of the big pieces was on how some unruly Korean football fans apparently went nuts last night, climbing on people’s cars and what not. Naturally, as I read it, I thought to myself, gee, perhaps all that North Korean propaganda about the GIs being a harmful cultural influence might not be so far off. And wouldn’t you know it, linked right under that piece was this one about a 19-year-old USFK private who has been turned over to the Korean police for alleged involvement in two separate incidents: a May 6 assault and robbery of the female proprietor of a hotel soapland massage parlor in Pyeongtaek and a May 14 assault and robbery of—you guessed it—a taxi driver in Seoul’s Gangnam-gu. In the latter incident, the GI is accused of bashing the driver with a brick and taking from him 70,000 won.

Coincidentally, I was in Itaewon meeting a friend recently when we noticed two inebriated GIs striking taxis as they passed.

Does AFN Korea need to run one of those stupid information spots about this issue?

{ 4 trackbacks }

Rumors of My Demise Have Been Exaggerated «
October 22, 2006 at 7:27 pm
Kunsan Security Personnel Pummel Taxi Driver at ROK Drop
April 24, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Rumors of My Demise Have Been Exaggerated at ROK Drop
April 24, 2007 at 6:17 pm
USFK Crime Archive at ROK Drop
August 4, 2007 at 5:35 pm

{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Zonath June 14, 2006 at 5:01 pm

It would be sort of interesting to see what criminal offense the GI who threw the bicycle stands accused of. Would it be assault? Maybe destruction of private property? I mean, unless the bicycle actually injured someone, somehow I can’t see this resulting in anything more than a fine (and some more bad publicity for USFK).

2 davelee June 14, 2006 at 5:20 pm

what would cause someone to throw a bike at a taxi sitting at a red light? way to feed the fire.

3 jd June 14, 2006 at 7:12 pm

i can think of a million things that a cab driver could do to make someone want to throw a bike at them.

number one on my list would be driving them off the road. likely, something happened somewhere up the road and the red light was the guy with the bike’s first chance to get a crack at the cab.

4 dogbertt June 14, 2006 at 7:31 pm

Has Hankyoreh done a cartoon about this yet?

5 dda June 14, 2006 at 8:00 pm

Yeah Robert, Mr Puerto and Mr Rico, complete with Attitude,dude, demeanor, bling bling and other flashy attire, were loud, noisy, aggressive, all of this probably booze- and fear-of-curfew-induced.

But kicking taxis doesn’t help catch one… It did remind me of the early/mid 90s when at night taxis would swerve around foreigners, even sober, quiet ones, and only take in Koreans…

6 hardyandtiny June 14, 2006 at 8:10 pm

“Coincidentally, I was in Itaewon meeting a friend recently when we noticed two inebriated GIs striking taxis as they passed.
Does AFN Korea need to run one of those stupid information spots about this issue?”

Dead on Marmot. It’s about time the PSAs relate to what is actually happening. Let’s have a PSA from AFN that teaches all the “little boy and girl soldiers” how to behave when hiring a taxi – especially when drunk.
I’d like to see the, ” “I’m so pretty”, credit card fraud, Brooklyn accent woman” in the lead role.
“ya see dem guys ova der yellin and bangin, dat ain’t da way to do it…look at me……de sures made up for it, I even got a discount”

“im so pretty…la la …..

7 R. Elgin June 14, 2006 at 9:02 pm

I just don’t get these guys doing this kind of thing. I find it hard to believe they come from any part of America even.

I used to write people I knew when I first came over and tease them about having a new hobby of stealing car parts in the neighborhood and that it was ok since I was a foreigner but it was only a joke!

8 Wedge June 14, 2006 at 11:14 pm

This doesn’t sound good, but we haven’t heard from the alleged perpetrators, have we? I’ve seen taxi drivers do plenty of shit in this country to piss people off, so it wouldn’t surprise me if this driver did something to set the guys off. Tossing a bike may have been too much, but I’m inclined to an innocent-until-proven-guilty standard.

9 kimchipig June 14, 2006 at 11:59 pm

I have also witnessed some pretty bad behaviour by young GIs who somehow think they have the right to abuse people off base. It should be made rather clear that it is not…

10 Remort June 15, 2006 at 12:50 am

Throwing a bicycle at a parked taxi? Maybe the GI though the taxi was a bike rack.

Robbing a soapland? Simply pathetic. Are they going to do a penis-lineup like the gym teacher want in Porky’s? :P

–Remort

11 hardyandtiny June 15, 2006 at 1:00 am

“This doesn’t sound good, but we haven’t heard from the alleged perpetrators, have we? I’ve seen taxi drivers do plenty of shit in this country to piss people off, so it wouldn’t surprise me if this driver did something to set the guys off.”

You have to be fucking kidding me. Taxi drivers are working. They may as well be my father or mother trying to make ends meet. What are you getting at? If you can’t handle your booze than don’t drink or don’t go out. There are limited modes of transport after the subway closes – there are literally millions of people that are aware of that and don’t have violent confrontations with taxi drivers. Grab hold of yourself and make the best of it, use common sense and show respect. There’s no reason to get violent.

12 Remort June 15, 2006 at 2:42 am

I remember telling a taxi driver, ” I need to be at the train station in 10 minutes, I’ll pay you triple the rate if you get me there in time.” Man, it was the best taxi ride I’ve ever had!

The taxi drivers I’ve met are hard working and decent folks, it’s a shame this happened.

So did the GI just stand there and wait for the cops to show up? Or did the taxi driver kick his ass?

–Remort

13 Wedge June 15, 2006 at 10:05 am

Hardyandtiny: Like I said, we don’t know the whole story, do we? We don’t even know whose bike it was. And if the soldiers were caught then it probably means they stuck around because they thought, perhaps incorrectly, they were in the right.

Taxi drivers in Seoul have improved vastly in the last 13 years, but I did a run to Changwon a few weeks ago and was reminded of how they used to be in the capital.

14 sanshinseon June 15, 2006 at 10:08 am

This looks to me like many of those intial-reported stories, where we only
have 10% of the story-info. The whole picture probably looks much different…

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