From 75147.2042@CompuServe.COM
Date: 18 Sep 96 14:09:09 EDT
From: Mark Jarvis <75147.2042@CompuServe.COM>
To: moogoonghwa 
Subject: Under the SOFA and under the rug

Dear Bill,

You wrote  "Someone please present a study to back up this claim. I am
interested hard cold figures on this matter."  

It seems to me that the Korean press, (or perhaps it is Korean rhetoric in
general?) has a tendency to refer to "the ever increasing trend of  (fill in the
blank) without ever presenting any figures to back up the fundamental assumption
that there is a trend.   This is true not only of the "ever increasing crimes of
foreigners/American servicemen," but of all kinds of things which I suspect are
more likely cases of an ever increasing trend of journalists to write about some
current "hot topic" than anything else.  Once the perception is created, other
journalists begins to cite it as reality with no questioning of the underlying
assumptions.

The US educational system (at least my own schooling) teaches Americans to read
critically and beware of statements like "as everyone knows . . . " or "it goes
without saying that . . . " which can be used to dress up hearsay or opinon as
undisputed fact.  To me Korean news articles often look more like what we would
call "editorials."  My guess is that this is caused by many journalists who
"have a  story to tell"  -- often one laden with a social message, and the lack
of the critical tendency of (some) American readers.

One the subject of the criminally inclined Americans, I was once told by a
fellow American in Seoul that the crime rate of the US military communities
(including, I believe, crimes against Koreans) was actually lower than that of
the overall rate of violent crime in Korea.  Any comment?

Finally, in no way do I want to diminish the guilt of the perpetrators or the
seriousness of the crime, but since this is the second murder of a Korean
prostitute by an American soldier in Tongduchon in recent memory, I wonder if
the local authorities and the base commander are considering or should consider
doing something to curb the local sex industry.   I've always had the impression
that the institution was tacitly approved by both sides, but I'd be interested
to hear some facts.  (And please, for any list members who may be considering a
"comfort women" analogy, don't even think about it! I know that this has been
tried by some activists as a means of stirring up anti-US passions, and this
arguments holds about as much water as the claim that the US army introduced
prostitution to Korea for the first time.)

Regards,

Mark Jarvis






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