By Soo-Jeong Lee/AP
Dozens of South Korean activists demonstrated in Seoul May 29 in a protest against the U.S. military’s refusal to let an American civilian employee stand trial for dumping toxic chemicals into a river.
“Yankee, go home!” the activists shouted, jabbing clenched fists into the sky during a one-hour rally in front of the U.S. military command near central Seoul.
About 200 South Korean police stood by but did not intervene. No arrests were made.
Protesters unfurled a large placard that read, “Arrest McFarland.”
Albert McFarland, a 58-year-old civilian employee of the U.S. military command, was accused of ordering the dumping of 24 gallons of formaldehyde, a toxic chemical, into the Han River, a main source of drinking water for 12 million people in Seoul, the capital, early last year.
The case became known to the South Korean public after one of McFarland’s Korean subordinates at an American military mortuary reported it to a local environmental group.
Local activists seized on the case to mount anti-U.S. protests. They demanded the withdrawal of 37,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea under a defense treaty to deter possible aggression from communist North Korea.
A South Korean summary court first fined McFarland five million won ($3,900). But in the face of angry protests from civic groups, South Korean judicial officials later referred the case to a full criminal court, which would force the American to appear for trial.
Under Korean law, those who are tried at a summary court do not necessarily attend it.
The case drew renewed attention this week when the U.S. military was reported to have sent a letter to the South Korean government stating that it cannot let McFarland stand trial at a South Korean court.
The U.S. military reportedly argued in the letter that administrative measures, not criminal punishment, would have been taken if the same situation had occurred in the United States.
South Korea claims that it has jurisdiction over the case, while the U.S. military argues that it holds primary jurisdiction for any offenses committed in the performance of official duty.
Lim Yong-kyu, a spokesman for the U.S. military command, declined comment.
The U.S. military has insisted that the dumped embalming chemical posed no threat to public health or the environment since it was treated in the sewage system and diluted with waste water.
Local environmentalists, however, say formaldehyde can cause cancer after long exposure, and kill aquatic creatures when dissolved in water. |
