Comments on: USFK Kicked Old Guys?

By: End to Osan ‘Kicking Old Guys’ Saga | The Marmot's Hole

End to Osan ‘Kicking Old Guys’ Saga | The Marmot's Hole — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:26:15 +0000

[...] and the U.S. Forces Korea Employee’s Union after two South Korean employees claimed they were treated with unnecessary roughness while being detained Feb. 15 for trying to enter a high-security area on the [...]

By: USFK’s Version of the ‘Kick the Old Guys’ Story | The Marmot's Hole

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 06:53:03 +0000

[...] at Osan Air Base say their guys didn’t do anything wrong when they detained two Korean civilian employees who attempted to enter a high-security area: Base officials said that while detaining the men, one [...]

By: Kalani

Kalani — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:33:00 +0000

The Stars and Stripes finally got around to printing the story. As expected the standard USAF response was that the Security Police did everything by the book. But the Osan authorities still did not clear up the portion from the OhMy News story that the passes were declared to be fake by the Security Police — leading to the incident in the first place.

This is the crux of the matter…not the injuries. Were the documents forged???? That the two men were held for two hours in a face-down position certainly implies that the passes were indeed forged or somehow tampered with.

The union glosses over the matter by saying the men did everything right. However, it is possible to follow the correct entry procedures using forged documents.

I hope someone clears up the question — but most likely it will be lost in the chaff.

By: Maui

Maui — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 11:19:59 +0000

I guess their were to soju’d up after lunch to read the sign that read “Restricted Area”
“Use of Deadly force Authorized” in English and if I remember that area it’s in Hangul also. Also if you’re not escorted.. your meat to the SP’s. Lesson: you WAIT for your escort period.

By: Railwaycharm

Railwaycharm — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:48:08 +0000

Ohmynews = National Inquirer

By: timmy

timmy — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 05:07:54 +0000

To be fair, much the same outroar, from Ohmynews at least, would have resulted if the Korean police had exercised such force on the same 노인. (Since when is 56 considered 노인?) Come to think of it, if it had been some young Korean cops or soldiers, the ajussis would have scolded, sworn at, and shoved them before being escorted off the premises and sent home.

Korea no doubt has a thing or two to learn from the US on effective law enforcement, but the distrust of government stemming from Korea’s experience with authoritative regimes does have its upside, namely higher sensitivity towards civil rights.

In any event, it is certainly conceivable that the Korean workers are in fact being regularly mistreated, but until and unless I read it from a reputable source, reporting by Ohmyjot (or jotsunilbo, for that matter; what can I say, I’m a moderate), neither proves nor disproves the story as far as I’m concerned.

By: Railwaycharm

Railwaycharm — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 04:40:09 +0000

#9 here is a story for you……. Big, long, noisy caravan of military equipment is rolling down the road. Two teenage girls are troubled by the entire racket. So, they cover their ears with their hands, close their eyes tightly and walk into the middle of the caravan. They die.
The story that is told to this day by the Korean media is that the USFK ran them down intentionally. Get the picture?

By: hardyandtiny

hardyandtiny — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 04:09:49 +0000

Dudes, the presidential elections are over…

By: AussieThunder

AussieThunder — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 02:49:28 +0000

Sounds like typical “poor victim me” Korean bullshit. Koreans are soooo perfect and never do anything wrong!

By: Benicio74

Benicio74 — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 01:54:08 +0000

Well, we won’t know the other side until the USFK makes a real statement about it. We certainly can’t trust OhMyNews for a truthful report. They really have no journalistic integrity.
I’m not saying the old guys are lying because I wasn’t there.
However, I’m reminded of other one-sided stories like the infamous Seoul subway fight of ‘96(?):
The news made hysteria reports of USFK personnel rampantly sexually assaulting Korean women on the the Seoul subway. One Korean man steps in to defend the honor of the women and the gang of soldiers beat him.
Now, on to the other side of the story:
There were US soldiers on the subway and one of them was with his Korean wife. The guy put his arm around his wife or his hand on her a$$ or something to that effect. Some ajosshi on the subway took offense to it, called her a “whore” and spit on her. The soldier, not liking his wife being treated that way, popped the guy and it turned into a mini-brawl.
Well, the way the news spun it, it made it look like the evil USFK was out beating honorable Korean men. When the other side of the story finally came out it was too late. Public opinion was already decided on the first reports.
Now, I’m not saying that this is the same type of situation, but it certainly has a possibility of being so.