The Kukmin Ilbo reports that police have booked two US soldiers and are looking for another one after they beat a taxi driver who was chasing them after they got out of his cab without paying the fare.
According to the report, the trio — which included a 22-year-old sergeant and a 27-year-old private — got out of their cab in Jamsil at 3:00am Saturday without paying a 78,000 (!) won fare. The three took off, but the taxi driver gave chase. Or at least he did until the soldiers beat him up.
Or so they are accused.
Luckily, some civic-minded residents who witnessed the assault called the cops, who were able to catch two of the three ruffians. As for the one who got away, police have asked the relevant unit to help identify the wanted man.
UPDATE: According to YTN, police say the soldiers appear to have been drinking in — sit down for this — Uijeongbu before they got in the cab to head for Sincheon-dong in Seoul. Now, I gotta ask — does a cab ride from Uijeongbu to Jamsil really cost 78,000 won?
17 Comments
78,000원… Well maybe Mr Hackie didn’t deserve a beating, but at least a good kick in the jollies.
W78,000 sounds a bit excessive to me. I took a cab from Songtan to Seoul City Hall once last year (trip in the Wayback Machine with a Navy buddy) at 4:00 a.m. and it only cost us an agreed fare of W70,000 (W55,000 by the meter, though). Songtan is at least twice the distance from Seoul as Uijongbu.
maybe the cab driver wanted to kidnap and rape the GIs
Sounds like another of those cases where the passengers really wanted to go to 신촌, but got taken to 신천.
I’d be pretty hacked if the guy let me out at Lotte World as well.
Just asked someone who lives in Uijeongbu, a taxi fare from Uijeongbu to Jamsil during those hours costs arount 30,000 ~ 40,000 Won. If it’s a “deluxe” taxi, the fare is around 60,000 ~ 70,000 Won.
The article doesn’t say if the taxi in question is an “ordinary” or a “deluxe” taxi. If it was a “deluxe” taxi, the 78,000 Won fare sounds plausible. However, if those soldiers took an “ordinary” taxi, then it’s a rip off.
Exactly, dogbertt — i’ll bet they intended to ask for 신촌, but pronounced it 신천, driver shouldda figured it out but didn’t, and in the Jamsil area (next to 신천) the GIs accused him of ‘taking them for a ride’ and it developed into a fight… lightly tragic.
Black cab, Itaewon to Suwon, 60,000 won
It looks like many Netizens have picked up on the expensive fare, and are assigning at least partial blame on the cab driver. I’ll give the news credit for mentioning the price… at least, but they should both be mentioning the start point and destination..
1am weekend curfew, eh?
#9,
“I’ll give the news credit for mentioning the price…”
You could take it as the reporter’s subtle way of suggesting that the cab driver probably deserved it a bit.
I can’t amount the amount of times I’ve wanted to beat a cab driver…
No wonder it’s hard for me to get cabs sometimes. I’m not a GI or American, but after I left the military I kept the “high and tight” style because, well, I like it. With all these beatings going on I’m going to have to buy a wig just to get a cab.
#13,
In the Canadian military, they don’t look kindly to soldiers who go to the skin on top or the sides. Whatever is under the beret can be as long as 6 inches, as a matter of fact. I still get about the same haircut I did when I was in the military, short on the sides, no more than an inch on top. It looks strange to me otherwise.
Never had trouble getting a taxi, although I’ve had American soldiers mistake me for one of them.
PS. Most guys keep it short on top. I think the 6 inch rules is just there because of Canada’s strong anti-discrimination laws…if it’s okay for women to have long hair on top, then it must be ok for men.
#14 In fact, you can shave your head in the CF. I didn’t say I had a skin head when I was in the army. My sidewalls were never down to bare skin. I said my style was “high and tight.” Even after QL2 and QL3 I kept my hair this way. I was never more than a pte anyway. My buddy who was a member of 3ESR didn’t even look like he was in the army when he took off his beret. Looked like he was wearing a mop. On many occassions taxi drivers tried to take me to base, especially in Daegu. Here in Seoul a young guy tried to fight me in a bar one night because he thought I was a GI!! I had to take my Alien Registration Card just to prove I wasn’t a GI. You should be able to find out about the regs on hair at army.ca I believe
Yes, the regs on hair in the CF can indeed be found at http://www.army.ca
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[...] Marmot and Nomad are already all over this story, but a trio of GIs are in hot water for beating a taxi cab driver in Uijongbu: South Korean police want to further question two soldiers accused of attacking a taxi driver early Saturday morning in Seoul’s Gangnam District. [...]