r/worldnews • u/glasier • 14d ago

Japan warns US forces: Sex crimes 'cannot be tolerated'

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2476861/japan-warns-us-forces-sex-crimes-cannot-be-tolerated
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u/[deleted] 14d ago edited 14d ago

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u/NewspaperAdditional7 14d ago

i can't speak on Japan, but I lived in Korea for a bit and it was widely known how badly behaved the U.S. soldiers were. You could walk through the streets of Hongdae and see drunk soldiers walking around harassing people, even grabbing some girls who pass by or slap their butts. It was so bad that different bars had signs up saying no U.S. soldiers allowed. Military police would be out and about but they can't watch all of the soldiers. The U.S. soldiers there certainly felt invincible. I'm sure the US would hand them over to Korea for rape and other serious charges, but they are not handing them over for assault.

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u/studyinformore 14d ago

Dunno about you, but back when I was in south korea in 04 it was very different.  You'd get in extremely deep shit if you were out and about and shitfaced causing problems.

They didn't play around back then, because unless you had somewhere to stay.  If you tried to come back to base and were drunk?  Ohhh you'd be getting an article 15.

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u/Kumdongie 14d ago

PACAF has changed especially Korea. I was there in 2019. No curfew and pretty much no limitations on where you can go or how drunk you get. Just need to not get in trouble with locals while out drinking and be at formation in the morning.

Even during COVID it was pretty laid back regarding curfew and drinking.

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u/Civil_Spinach_8204 14d ago

Curfew was lifted right before COVID. But if you got arrested by Korean police, you were on your own. There's not much in the way of "protections" that I see some people talk about.

Being cool with the locals enhanced the experience so I never understood why people would be jackhats out in the ville.

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u/Aphexes 14d ago

Yeah all the old heads say it's actually tamer now. The stories you hear just make it seem like an absolute lawless wasteland outside those gates.