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U.S. military strengthens safety for its troops in South Korea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Amid growing anti-U.S. sentiment, the U.S. military command in South Korea has instructed soldiers to refrain from going out at night, travel in pairs or groups and to stay out of trouble, military officials said Tuesday. It also extended patrols by its military police in major night spots in Seoul frequented by American soldiers. At Seoul's Itaewon, the usual 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. patrol hours were extended by 10 hours to start at 10 a.m., beginning Saturday. Some 37,000 American troops are stationed in South Korea. Kim Yong-kyu, a U.S. command spokesman, said the stabbing death of a U.S. Army doctor and recent anti-U.S. demonstrations were behind the new orders.
On June 25, Army Maj. David Berry was stabbed to death in broad daylight in Itaewon by a South Korean man with a record of mental illness. U.S. officials said the attack was unprovoked. The U.S. military also imposed a late-night curfew and a drinking ban on all its service members in Okinawa earlier this month after several of them allegedly committed crimes that have enraged Japan. The order seemed aimed at calming the community ahead of President Bill Clinton's visit to the island for an international summit this weekend. On Saturday, some 2,500 local activists staged a boisterous anti-U.S. demonstration in central Seoul after the U.S. military said it had dumped formaldehyde into Seoul's Han River. They lobbed toy rockets into the U.S. military compound and pelted red paint on a nearby U.S. building, demanding punishment of those responsible for the dumping the harmful chemical. The U.S. military said Friday it dumped 20 gallons of formaldehyde into the sewage system in February but said the chemical did not damage the environment since it was treated in the sewage system and diluted with waste water. South Korean activists say formaldehyde can cause cancer over long exposures. In water, it can kill fish and other aquatic creatures, they say. The South Korean media criticized the chemical dumping as "an act of disregarding the South Korean people." "Do you in the United States dump such poisonous chemicals into the Potomac River?" asked a recent editorial in the leading Chosun Ilbo newspaper. The Han River is a major source of drinking water for Seoul's 12 million people. At Itaewon, shops and bars reported a sharp drop in business, with fewer American visitors even on weekends. "Sales have dropped as much as 30 percent," said Hahm Ji-won at Nashville Extension, a bar in Itaewon. Most South Koreans support the stationing of U.S. troops in their country as a deterrent to military threats from communist North Korea. But many are worried about crimes and other controversies allegedly involving American soldiers. Anti-U.S. protests have been on the rise since early May when a U.S. Air Force fighter jet dropped six bombs on the Koon-Ni Range near the west coast village of Mae Hyang, 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Seoul. Villagers say six people were slightly injured and walls were cracked and windows shattered by the impact. Together with activist groups, the villages have been staging sometimes violent rallies, demanding the relocation of the range. More than 200 activists have since been detained for violent anti-U.S. protests. Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
RELATED STORIES: Albright eyes meeting with North Korean minister RELATED SITES: U.S. military Korea page | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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