American soldiers on better behavior

Fewer members of the United States Forces Korea have been booked for violating local laws this year, the National Police Agency said yesterday.

A total of 158 members - including soldiers, their families and civilian employees of U.S. nationality - were booked between January and August, the agency reported.

The figure represents a 23 percent decrease from the 205 who were booked during the same period in 2007.

Most were booked on charges of violence, although violent crime has gone down. Further down the list were charges related to traffic accidents, larceny, sexual misconduct and gambling.

Police authorities in Gyeonggi Province booked the largest number of American soldiers at 61, followed by Seoul with 58 and Daegu with 19.

None of the 158 were actually detained.

The USFK and local police attributed the dwindling crime rate to the tougher disciplinary guidelines of the Korean and U.S. militaries.

"We are very happy to see this trend. The Korean national police, the USFK military police, and courtesy patrols have all played their part to steer soldiers clear from (problematic) areas to prevent escalation," said Dave Palmer, the USFK public information chief.

The Korean agency added that it has been making more sustained efforts to persuade U.S. military officials to help prevent crimes by American soldiers.

"The reduction is not yet very dramatic, but our coordinated efforts appear to be having good results," said an official at the NPA`s foreign affairs investigation division, speaking anonymously.

The number of U.S. troops stationed here has been reduced to 28,500 from 37,000, but the U.S. command said that the reduction is not connected to the lower crime rate, as the last troop reduction was in 2003.

The police have been keeping track of the bookings of American service and civilian members since 2003, a year after the USFK faced a huge public backlash after two Korean girls were killed by an American military vehicle.

Some 195 USFK members were booked for crimes in 2003, excluding those involved in traffic accidents. But the figures have not seen dramatic reductions since then, falling to 175 in 2004, rising again to 200 in 2005 and higher still to 215 in 2006.

Citing the unsteady pattern, critics say that further study is needed before the assertion is made that crimes involving U.S. military forces are on the decline.

The U.S. forces have been stationed here based on an alliance agreement since the armistice which ended the Korean War in 1953.

Those forces are seen as a major deterrent against possible aggression by North Korea, but misconduct by American soldiers has often been the target of mostly left-wing critics who resent their presence.

Following two presidential summits, Seoul and Washington have recently renewed their commitment to the alliance, pledging to take it beyond its currently predominantly military nature.

By Kim Ji-hyun

(jemmie@heraldm.com)