By Lee Tae-hoon
Korea is seeking to have a greater authority to investigate and take custody of U.S. military personnel suspected of having committed felonies, multiple sources said Thursday.
“We are working closely with working-level officials of the U.S. Forces Korea to include the revision as one of the agenda items for the upcoming joint meeting of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), slated for Nov. 23,”an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) said Thursday.
The move came amid growing calls for revamping the SOFA agreement that provides legal protection and immunity for U.S. soldiers, following a U.S. soldier’s rape of a teenage Korean girl in September.
Under the current SOFA agreement, the Korean police have rights to keep a U.S. soldier in custody through the trial after arrest for murder or egregious rape.
Additionally, the Korean authorities can request transfer of custody for 12 major crimes, such as rape, kidnapping, arson and drug trafficking, only after a suspected U.S. soldier is indicted.
“If new guidelines are adopted, the U.S. would ‘favorably consider’ handing over suspects accused of the 12 felonies before they are indicted,”another MOFAT official said asking for anonymity.
He said the new guidelines, which the two sides are expected to give due consideration, are similar to those that Washington and Tokyo agreed to after a 1995 rape in Okinawa.
“The two sides have held a series of preliminary meetings in an effort to come up with idea of making improvements in the existing SOFA agreement,” he said.
Kim Hyoung-zhin, director-general of the foreign ministry’s North American Affairs Bureau, is expected to meet with Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Remington, deputy commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) to discuss pending matters next Wednesday.
USFK officials declined to comment, saying no agreement has yet been made over the upcoming joint meeting.
They said no revision is expected to be made in the existing SOFA regardless of the outcome of the meeting as such guidelines can be introduced in the form of an “agreed recommendation.”
Some, however, expressed discontent over the move, saying any recommendation without actually changing “toxic clauses”of the SOFA is an empty promise or temporary fix at best.
“The U.S. troops accepted a similar recommendation in 2002 after their armored vehicle ran over and killed two school girls, but they have thus far ignored it,”said Park Kyung-soo, secretary general of the National Campaign for Eradication of Crimes by U.S. Troops in Korea.
Critics say the SOFA, last amended in January 2001 to grant local law enforcement authorities more investigative rights, remains unjust and discriminates against the host country because it goes too far in protecting U.S. soldiers.
Pvt. Kevin Lee Flippin, 21, from the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division in Dongducheon, north of Seoul, was found guilty of raping an 18-year-old girl near his unit in the early hours of Sept. 24.
The soldier broke into the girl’s rented room and raped her multiple times, while threatening her with a knife and pair of scissors, according to court testimony. He also stole the victim’s wallet which contained 5,000 won ($4.50).
The court sentenced the U.S. soldier to 10 years in prison last month.
About 28,500 U.S. soldiers are stationed here as a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War.