Korean stabs US soldiers in brawl

By Kang Seung-woo

Police will seek an arrest warrant for a Korean bar manager who allegedly stabbed three U.S. soldiers with a knife in a brawl, police said Sunday.

The bloody fight took place Saturday morning outside a bar near Camp Casey in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, and two soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division (2ID) were stabbed in the abdomen and buttocks, respectively, with another cut on the hand.

A fourth soldier was hit in the head with a baseball bat. One of the four was treated at a military hospital at Yongsan Garrison.

Police booked without physical detention the four American servicemen, who were allegedly involved in a gang beating of the Korean, surnamed Lee. A Korean-American soldier, who owned the knife, was also booked. All five U.S. soldiers have been taken into U.S. military police custody.

The altercation was initially reported as four U.S. soldiers provoking Lee into a fight.

Lee, 33, said he stabbed the soldiers in self-defense when they threatened him with the knife and he managed to take it away during the brawl.

However, the police said that the fight began between the five soldiers.

On his way home, Lee got involved in the fight after finding the Korean-American soldier, whom he is familiar with, and his Filipino wife confronting the four.

After being battered by the four soldiers, Lee took the knife from his acquaintance, identified as Yoo, and stabbed the others, according to police.

The fight allegedly began when the four soldiers tried to help Yoo's Filipino wife, who was drunk and staggering in front of the club. Misunderstanding the move as a sexual assault, Yoo took a 33-centimeter-long knife and a baseball bat from his car.

Police said Lee and the American soldiers were drunk at the scene.

“We've decided to seek an arrest warrant for only the Korean suspect because the crime was serious enough to put one of the soldiers stabbed in a life-threatening condition,” said Kim Bok-jun, a senior officer in charge of investigating the case.

Two other Koreans ― one of whom sustained a head injury ― were also involved, but were later released when the police decided they were trying to break up the fight.

In the wake of another incident involving U.S. service members, the 2ID swiftly issued a media release, saying, “This incident is not representative of the favorable relationship between U.S. soldiers and Korean citizens in Dongducheon.”