US Soldiers Arrested for Itaewon Assault

Four US soldiers stationed in South Korea were arrested by police for assaulting Korean men in Itaewon and later transferred to US military police.

Yongsan Police Station in Seoul announced on the 8th that four US Forces Korea personnel were apprehended as suspects for allegedly engaging in a group fight with Korean men in Itaewon early that morning. Two Korean men involved in the altercation were also detained at the scene.

According to the police investigation, the US soldiers approached two Korean women with the intent of saying, “Let’s hang out together.” When the women refused, the soldiers continued to speak to them, leading to a confrontation with two Korean men accompanying the women. During the incident, two other Korean men who attempted to mediate the fight were assaulted by the soldiers and taken to a hospital.

Police applied charges of joint assault to the four US soldiers and the two Korean men accompanying the women. Additionally, two of the soldiers faced charges of injury for harming the men who tried to mediate.

After questioning, the suspects were handed over to US military police in accordance with the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the Republic of Korea and the United States.