By Lee Hyo-sik
A U.S. army soldier has been taken into custody following the issue of an arrest warrant by a local court, Monday, on charges of attempting to rape an elderly Korean woman as well as violently attacking her and her husband.
The Uijeongbu District Court said it issued the warrant for the unidentified 20-year-old army private belonging to the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division based in Dongducheon, about 70 kilometers north of Seoul.
The soldier is accused of breaking into the home of a 70-year-old man in the city at around 9 a.m. last Saturday and attempting to rape his 64-year-old wife, according to the Dongducheon Police Station. After failing to sexually assault the elderly woman, the private physically attacked the couple with a blunt object and fled the scene with the woman’s cellular phone.
The police said the soldier was caught three hours later while wandering nearby the couple’s home, adding he was heavily under the influence of alcohol at the time of the arrest. The elderly couple was taken to the hospital for treatment, but neither of them sustained serious injuries.
Unlike in the past, the Dongducheon Police Station has decided to detain the soldier and seek to prosecute him, instead of turning him over to the U.S. military police.
Under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed between Seoul and Washington, the Korean law enforcement authorities are required to hand over U.S. soldiers committing a crime here to U.S. military police.
SOFA is a package of regulations on legal issues associated with military individuals and property, which exclusively apply to U.S. troops and their families in South Korea. Under SOFA, the U.S. holds jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases involving affected U.S. citizens here.
However, if U.S. military personnel commit murder and 11 other serious crimes against Koreans, they can be detained, investigated and prosecuted by local enforcement authorities under an agreement with the U.S. military.
``Normally, we first hand over the custody of American soldiers to the U.S. military. And then we request our U.S. counterpart to return the suspect back to us for investigation. But this time, we decided not to hand him over in a bid to send a strong message,’’ a police officer at the Dongducheon Police Station said.
In response to the latest crime committed by a U.S. soldier, Maj. Gen. Michael Tucker, commander of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division, expressed regret.
``We deeply regret this deplorable incident and offer the family and the Korean people our most heartfelt sympathy,’’ Tucker said in a statement.
He then said the crime ``is absolutely not in keeping with the high standards we expect of our soldiers. We will continue to work in close cooperation with the Korean National Police as they investigate this most unfortunate incident.’’
``We hope that this incident does not tarnish the years of friendship between our soldiers and the Korean people,’’ Tucker said.
The U.S. maintains 28,500 troops in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korea.