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Mar. 29  2024
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What is wrong with the SOFA? And how should it be changed?

Under the current agreement, the Korean government grants land and facilities to the U.S. Armed Forces for free, permanently. It should be amended so that a rental contract can be signed between the two parties. The contract should specify the period of rent, the methods for renewal or termination of the rent, the remuneration for rent, and the mechanism of consultation with land owners or the local municipal government at the time of the adoption and review of the rent contract.

Source  :  http://maehyang.jinbo.net

Under the current agreement, the Korean government grants land and facilities to the U.S. Armed Forces for free, permanently.
It should be amended so that a rental contract can be signed between the two parties. The contract should specify the period of rent, the methods for renewal or termination of the rent, the remuneration for rent, and the mechanism of consultation with land owners or the local municipal government at the time of the adoption and review of the rent contract.

The current agreement deprives the Korean police, prosecutor, and judiciary the criminal jurisdiction over crimes committed by the U.S. Armed Forces members and their dependents (family members) against Koreans.

The agreement should be amended so that the Korean authorities can exercise criminal jurisdiction in all stages, investigation, prosecution, court trial, and execution of the ruling of the court. Specifically, Korean authorities should have the right and the power to hold the accused in custody in the appropriate stage of investigation, examination, prosecution, trial, and execution of the ruling, in accordance with the national law.

SOFA provides virtually total "immunity" to the U.S. Armed Forces from civil liability. In cases where the U.S. Armed Forces is found to be liable for civil damages and responsible for compensation, the Korean government is required to shoulder at least 25% of the damage claim.

The agreement should require the U.S. Armed Forces to bear the obligation of the civil damages on the basis of the principle of degree of responsibility. The agreement should also introduce provisions for procedural regulations for civil legal action against the U.S. Armed Forces and for the enforcement of the court decision.

SOFA releases the U.S. Armed Forces from all responsibility for environmental damage and contamination that may occur in the areas and facilities it uses. It says: "The Government of the United States is not obliged, when it returns facilities and areas to the Government of Republic of Korea on the expiration of the Agreement or at earlier date, to restore the facilities and areas to the condition in which they were at the time of they became available to the United States Armed Forces." Furthermore, Korean environment protection authorities do not have any jurisdiction of oversight or supervision of environment regulations, even in those cases where the damage to non-base areas and Korean citizens occur (as in the case of recent dumping of toxic material into sewerage system).

The agreement should introduce a set of environmental regulations which specify the responsibility of the U.S. government (on the basis of polluter pays principle) for the restoration of the damage and compensation for the damages arising from environmental contamination. The military bases and facilities must be governed by the domestic environmental laws and regulation with regard to inspection, oversight, evaluation, and control and correctional measures. Furthermore, there should be procedural regulations for civil claims on damages incurred from environmental pollution and for its enforcement.

Korean workers - employed directly by the U.S. Armed Forces or by "invited" contractors - are deprived of the basic labour and trade union rights and employment rights guaranteed by the Korean constitution and laws.

The provisions on labour in the current agreement should be amended to guarantee employment security and basic trade union and labour rights in accordance with the domestic laws. The current "cooling off" period of 70 days in cases of industrial dispute should be reduced, as this is limited to 15 days even in the case of "essential public services". Furthermore, the participation of trade union and employee representatives in the Joint Committee mandated to produce binding "mediation" must be guaranteed. The provision of the current agreement whereby the individual contractors invited by the U.S. Armed Forces to conduct certain projects on the bases are treated as having the same rights as the U.S. Armed Forces should be excluded from the application of the special arrangements outlined in the agreement.

The entry/exit, tariff, customs, and quarantine provisions of the SOFA allows the military and civilian members of the U.S. Armed Forces in Korea and their dependents immunity from all domestic regulations. This denies the local authorities of passport control and "import" control.

These provisions should be amended to prohibit abuse of the custom system, to enable regulatory control on food imports for health and environmental grounds. Measures must be provided to enable passport control, especially for those suspected of crimes or civil liability.

The current agreement does not obligate the U.S. Armed Forces to inform the Korean government on the introduction of new weapons.

Korean government and people have the sovereign right to know and be informed of, and be consulted (and to object to) what kind of weapons are introduced. For example, environment inspection of the Maehyang-ri bombing and firing range found shells of BDU -- depleted uranium shells -- while the U.S. Armed Forces denies that these bombs are either deployed in Korea or used in the training. The SOFA must obligate the U.S. Armed Forces to inform the Korean government of the introduction of new weapons and the conduct of activities which may endanger the civilian population

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