I’m sure you’ve seen this, but in case you didn’t, police on Tuesday night engaged in an eight-and-a-half-hour standoff with a car with Chinese Embassy plates whose driver refused a breathalyser test. See also here.
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16 Comments
I’m glad the police did not let up on these bums. If there is a next time, the police should wait longer, still, before notifying someone.
There is nothing the police can do. The inside of a diplomatic vehicle is inviolate, as they say.
Actually I was/am going to write about this because I thought it was kind of funny that Korea is so upset about it - especially considering that they weren’t that upset about thier first secretary in Japan doing the same thing in June. The Japanese were pretty upset about it and asked - “How would Korea feel if this happened in their country?” I guess now we know…..
“Diplomats usually flash their diplomatic IDs in such situations, but since they didn’t, we suspected the car was stolen.”
It doesn’t take 8.5 hours to check if a car is stolen, driver’s ID or not. The first thing they should have done is called the Chinese embassy and told them to pick up the driver. I suspect someone was trying to cause an international incident out of this because of China’s recent claims on Korea’s historical heritage.
Smells of fish for sure! I can’t wait to hear the outcome. Another game of Big dick, little dick in Korea, who’d ah thunk?
All this political intrigue… Yet it seems to me the real question is: Didn’t they have to pee?
why didn’t they just show the ids?
if the driver is not a diplomat, would he be immune?
and more importantly, as a-letheia asked above, no one had to pee?
i’m pretty certain that after 7-8 hours after drinking it gets digested and processed through the liver and into your waste system. if you’re wanting to breathalize someone, it will not be valid because of that reason.
so lesson learned. try to wait it out as long as you can…
as far as the political issue at hand… there’s nothing you can do to a politician or even an individual under SOFA. sorry… se la vie korea… i’m sure it works on both ends as well.
It takes about one hour for one ounce of alcohol to metabolise I believe so they must have pissed in their pants. Koreans should be upset. They never do anything wrong in countries they visit or work in. Any story to the contrary is a lie.
Breaktrack, one hour is about right. It peaks after 35 to 45 minutes and then is quickly metabolized. But, just to be safe, I go to this site to check who’s safe to drive whenever we have a party.
http://www.rupissed.com/
Huh, it would have been better if the guys used the 3-dan batons on the windows.
rokep, you’d think that would be the logical thing to do if they thought the car was stollen, but it would certainly have caused a diplomatic incident. Embassy vehicules cannot be searched or even touched. Think of them as diplomatic pouches on wheels.
Bunch of extreme racists pulling sickening racial jokes… I can’t believe what I am seeing on this site… very disturbing, scary..
No matter who that person is inside the car. Drinking-driving is a very very serious offence, and there should be a zero-tolerance for such act. It’s attempted murder. Well, that chinese diplomat will be called back by chinese government for causing so much stir, anyway.
logoman, that’s certainly in part why the cops took their time to contact the Chinese embassy. Loss of face for the Chinese government and the drunk driver is called back home.
This is how it’s done in the US. Maybe it’s the same elsewhere, based on international law:
D. Traffic Violations & Driving Under the
Influence:
1. Officers may issue drivers having diplomatic
immunity an appropriate citation or warning
for any moving violation.
a. The issuance of a traffic citation does
not constitute an arrest or detention.
b. Diplomats are not required to sign the
citation and cannot be arrested for
refusal to sign.
c. Officers will notify their supervisor of
the issuance of a citation(s) and the
refusal to sign.
d. A supervisor’s presence at the scene is
not required.
2. If an officer has probable cause to believe
a person with full immunity is driving under
the influence (DUI) he/she will:
a. Not allow the person to continue
operating the vehicle.
b. Issue traffic citation(s) for DUI and
other related traffic offenses. A
physical arrest cannot be made.
c. Provide assistance in parking the
vehicle. Do not tow the vehicle.
d. Offer field performance tests and Blood
Alcohol Concentration (BAC) tests.
Diplomats are not required to take
tests.
e. Notify supervisor.