Welcome to BASE21

by Terry Park/Staff Reporter
parkterry@hotmail.com

Seoul, Korea--South Korean prosecutors will interrogate today two American soliders charged with negligent homicide for running over two South Korean schoolgirls with their armored vehicles, Reuters reported.

Sgt. Mark Walker and Sgt. Fernando Nino, both from the Army's 2nd Infantry Division, north of Seoul, were officially charged last Friday by the U.S. military for violating the Pentagon's Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to AP, which quoted from a U.S. military press release.

Shin Hyo-soon and Shim Mi-sun were walking to a friend's birthday party when they were struck and killed by a United States Army bridge carrier Thursday morning, June 13th, in Hyochon Village near Camp Red Cloud, 15 miles north of Seoul. The bridge carrier was part of a large convoy traveling from Camp Howze to the Twin Bridges training area to participate in an army exercise named "Strike ARTEP" (Army Readiness Training Evaluation Program).

A US-Korea Joint Investigation Team investigated the incident and on June 19th announced that the death of the two girls "was not a malicious or deliberate act, but a tragic accident." The families of the victims maintained that the vehicle crossed the center divide, and in order to avoid hitting the vehicle coming in the other direction, veered to the shoulder and hit the teens, without respect for life, making this a deliberate act of murder. Subsequent daily protests at Red Cloud, a variety of demands by both South Korean human rights groups and North Korea, and an internal U.S. army fact-finding mission may have all contributed to the reversal of an ealier decision not to court-martial the two soliders. "Both are charged with the deaths of the two girls by negligently failing to ensure the safe operation of the vehicle," reported AP, quoting from a U.S. military spokesperson.

Meanwhile, according to an eyewitness, an estimated two thousand people demonstrated in front of Red Cloud in the latest of a series of increasingly militant protests. 3,600 police officers were deployed to keep protestors from entering the U.S. army base, which is the territory of the U.S. military. The demonstarion lasted about 3 hours at the main gate of the camp and then protesters marched to the Uijeongbu subway station.

Protestors repeated their demands of an open apology from President George W. Bush; the truth of the incident; the transfer of criminal jurisdiction from the U.S. military, as stipulated in the controversial Status of Forces Agreeement (SOFA), to South Korean authorities; the revision of the SOFA; and the removal of the U.S. military from South Korea.

Ways to support the protestors:

* Wear a black ribbon until August 3rd
* Sign your name in support of the campaign at http://www.jatong.org/banmi_1.htm
* Send a donation to Kookmin bank at 822-21-0424-788 (name: Jatonghyup 자통협)
* Send protest snail mail and email to U.S. government bodies
* Organize solidarity demonstrations in your area
* If possible, participate in future demonstrations

Future demonstrations:

* July 14 (Sunday), 11am, at the main gate of the 2nd infantry division camp in
Uijeongbu
- workers rally (11am)
- general rally (noon)

* July 17(Wed) Youth Action Day

* July 20(Sat) Citizen Action Day

* July 25(Thu) Teachers Action Day

* July 27(Sat) Nationwide general rally (location and time to be announced)

* July 31(Wed) 49th day of the killing (memorial service)

* August 3(Sat) Cultural festival in memory of the victims, 6pm in front of Uijeongbu city hall