NoCut News was in Uijeongbu for the first day of the hearing for Pvt. K, the US serviceman charged with raping a teenage girl at her gosiwon in Dongducheon last month.
His lawyer did what he could, arguing his client was drunk. Pleading for leniency, he said the defendent was the fourth of five children, and had faithfully carried out his military duties with the goal of going to college after leaving the service and becoming a psychiatrist. He said he was just a 21-year-old youth with no record up till now.
When asked by the judge if he had something to say, K said there was no excuse for what he did, even if he was drunk. He said he knew even if he admitted he wronged the victim, he could not be forgiven, but he wanted to apologize anyway, and that he’d have nothing to say even if he were sentenced to death.
He won’t be sentenced to death, but prosecutors are asking for 15 years, citing the viciousness of the crime and the fact that they don’t believe he was that drunk when he did it.
Civic groups, however, are worried that after the sentencing, when public opinion settles down, USFK will ask the Korean side to turn him over, citing the SOFA provision calling for the Korean side to show “favorable consideration” in such requests. Such a SOFA provision reportedly does exist, although it has apparently never been used.
K will be sentenced on Nov 1.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
15 years is not enough, may be 25~30 years.
I don’t make a habit of sticking up for rapists, but I think a fair sentence would be one in line with those given to everyone else charged with the same crime in the ROK (i.e., considerably less than 25 years).
Having said that, I hope he gets more than Geronimo Ramirez, who copped 4 years for raping a 67-year-old.
US military law would be tougher in this case than local law will be.
Whether one is a little drunk or a lot drunk, the mind and body does not have 100% full control. The body wants to do things that normally it wouldn’t want to do. I personally oppose drinking in general.
It is such a shame to hear of what is happening to this GI. Additionally, what a tragedy for the woman who was raped. Just unfathomable for anybody to experience this kind of inhumane act.
The GI seems like a good man – when he’s not drunk. He had a plan for his life. See, that’s the problem with alcohol – it ruins lives even with a little. Lives are changed for the worse – and in this case, his life will never be the same…
to hoju –
I tend to agree with you. Whatever his sentence, if he is going to be sentenced in a Korean court, I hope it is commensurate with the sentence handed down to Koreans. A few years ago, a 57-year old man (who also claimed he was drunk) was sentenced to 12 years after abducting, beating and raping an 8-year old girl. He tried to wash out her genitalia with detergent. In all of that, he damaged her so severely she will require a colostomy bag attached to her abdomen for the rest of her life. and it was his SECOND rape conviction!
Personally, if he is guilty – and he appears to definitely be – I would sentence the guy to 20+ years. But the Korean justice system would be biased if they sentenced this soldier that severely based on public outrage, and not based on legal precedent. It would have been better if he was tried in an open US military court martial, so the Korean victim and the Korean public / justice system would be able to see how tough a sentence he would be given, and with no hope of reducing it simply by offering money or claiming he was drunk. Drunkenness would not be as effective an excuse as it seems to be in Korean courts.
Hoju—I think he’ll get a heavy sentence, but maybe not the 15 years the prosecutors are asking for. I will say this, though—he picked a really bad time to get collared for a sexual assault with all the public outrage following the film 도가니.
Bulgogi Monster—I’ve done plenty of dumb things while drunk. Raping a 17-year-old girl for four hours—sticking foreign objects up her and burning her breast with a lighter in the process—wasn’t one of them.
Personally, I would expect about 10 years. Really the judge has a very fine line to tow, as he’ll(?) be absolutely eaten alive for a light sentence, but legal precedent (and I would guess a bit of quiet political pressure worried about US relations) prevent him from giving into the blood lust.
It’s been said before, but the civic groups should really make a quick comparison between the conditions K will have in the foreigners prison compared to military prison. If severe punishment was the goal, they would probably beg for him to be transferred. Of course, severe punishment isn’t the goal, just finding more fodder for their hate cannon.
Based on the indictment, the minimum sentence for him if convicted is 10.5 years.
I would expect something like 12 years.
Here is a quick lesson in sentencing in Korean criminal law. The guy is accused of two crimes:
1. Rape causing injury – minimum 5 years, maximum life (Art. 301 of the Criminal Code)
2. Robbery causing injury – minimum 7 years, maximum life (Art. 337 of the Criminal Code)
When two felonies are committed simultaneously, you take the higher minimum and enhance it by 50%, and the same with maximum. So enhance 7 years by 50% = 10.5 years minimum sentence, maximum life.
But wait, there is more. There is a Special Act on the Prevention of Sexual Assault, which has additional punishment. Under Art. 3 of that law, if a defendant committed rape AND robbery of a residence at night, the minimum sentence is 10 years, and maximum sentence is capital punishment. Since this is a Special Act, it does not come into the 50% enhancement — but to the extent it provides for a higher minimum or maximum sentence, the higher sentence is taken.
So, to recap, if the guy is convicted, the range of punishment he will face is: minimum 10.5 years in prison, maximum capital punishment. He apparently is a first time offender, which usually precludes the maximum or even life sentence.
As much as I am appalled by the behavior of these rapists (use of foreign objects and other torture), I can’t help but wonder whether a public stoning might not be the best way to deal with it… This was not about sex, it was a case of a coward, a bully, taking out his frustrations in life on someone who was weak…
And to think that the asshole only stole 5,000 won. Not that I’m complaining if it gets him a minimum of 10 years…
bulgogi fanatic @#4 — congratulations for winning the stupidest post of the month award.
A court in Uijeongbu has sentenced a 26-year-old KOREAN man named Ju to three years, six months in prison for a July sexual assault on an 18-year-old female American soldier…
http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/society_general/501939.html
so, shouldn’t the American rapist be also getting 3 1/2 years of prison for raping a female Korean? (and nothing more)?
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