International Law

United States? Hands Tied by Unfair SOFA

The Korea Times reports that in August Korean aircrews and planes will be training at Nellis AFB, Nevada for the first time. As for me, I am halfway hoping that one of the Korean military members gets into a traffic accident, or even flips out and commits some sort of crime. We are talking about servicemembers on temporary duty, so drunk driving seems the best bet.

So why am I rooting for some kind of misfortune? It’s not because I dislike Koreans, or any members of the aircrews personally. It’s because some kind of a legal entanglement in the Nevada desert would be a teachable moment for the Korean public about the reciprocal nature of the US-Republic of Korea Status of Forces Agreement, a bilateral treaty the “unfairness” of which is an article of faith among the populace protected by US Forces Korea.

Korean aircrews, while deployed in the United States, will receive exactly the same legal and administrative protections and privileges afforded to American troops here in Korea. An accident or incident will provide a chance to think on that a bit.

But I wouldn’t count on it: The deployment is scheduled to run only two weeks.

UPDATE 1/15: Doh! Korea Law Blog reader “WayneChang” left a comment that alerted me to a fundamental mistake, one which is pretty embarrassing: The US-ROK SOFA is not, now that I look at it again after 15 years, a reciprocal agreement like the NATO SOFA. It concerns legal and administrative protections and privileges afforded to American troops in Korea, but does not address the status of Korean forces in the US—in this respect it’s unlike the NATO agreement. Pretty dumb of me, especially since I’m indignant about the other aspects of the issue. This is my own teachable moment.

My comment in response to Wayne was banged out in frustration. After chiding Wayne not to repeat untruths fueled by emotion, I did the very same thing.

The comment thread was pretty good, but that fundamental goof requires me to pull my comment and Wayne’s response so that I can do my research again. Anyway, thanks, Wayne—I’m not too big to admit mistake and the issue is important enough to me to want NOT to repeat nonsense. Let me get my facts straight and I’ll pick it up later. 

Full post as published by Korea Law Blog on January 13, 2008 (boomark / email).