Gov't ordered to pay for damage caused by US military truck

By Lee Kyung-min

A district court ordered the Korean government, Tuesday to compensate a bicyclist injured by a truck being driven by an American soldier on duty.

The suit was filed by an insurance company, which sought reimbursement for the surgery and hospital treatment it spent on treatment for the injured bicyclist.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled that the Korean government should reimburse the 20.4 million won ($17,800) to the insurance company because it is responsible for the damage under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which requires the Korean government to cover damage incurred on third parties by U.S. soldiers stationed here.

According to court documents, the injured man, who was riding a bicycle, sustained multiple bone fractures in a traffic accident in Suwon in September 2011.

The truck was being driven by an on-duty American corporal.

“In accordance with the SOFA, the Korean government should assume 90 percent of the damage inflicted by the corporal,” Judge Lee Sang-won said.

“However, the bicyclist is to assume 10-percent responsibility, because he failed to comply with traffic regulations by being over the stop line at the crosswalk.”

The SOFA is a treaty signed between Korea and the U.S. to define criminal jurisdictions over U.S. military personnel stationed here.

Since its enactment in 1967, it faced a number of calls for revision because civic groups claim it contains unfair clauses.

In 2002, anti-American sentiment swept the nation after two teenage girls were accidently run over by a U.S. military vehicle and a U.S. military court acquitted the drivers.

In February, a U.S. citizen who works at the U.S. 8th Army base in Yongsan, drove away after hitting a Korean police officer who was conducting a check for drunk drivers on a road near Itaewon Station. Police arrested the soldier two days later, but they eventually transferred custody of him to the U.S.

Holding such suspects accountable for committing crimes here is hampered due to the agreement, under which the U.S. military still has sole authority over employees on duty suspected of committing crimes.

It also states that Korean authorities cannot detain the suspects without a U.S. representative present during questioning.

In 2012, the clause that states the U.S. soldiers suspected of crime should be “indicted within 24 hours,” was removed to allow Korean authorities to have more time to investigate.

About 28,500 U.S. soldiers are stationed in here to help deter possible armed conflict with the North.