South Korea Fears Anti-U.S. Feeling

President Kim Dae-jung expressed concern Tuesday about growing anti-Americanism in South Korea and ordered his Cabinet to "improve" rules governing 37,000 U.S. soldiers stationed here.

Many South Koreans are angry after U.S. military courts in November acquitted two American soldiers charged with negligent homicide in a traffic accident that killed two Korean teenage girls in June.

President Bush apologized for the accident, but that failed to stop protesters, who have staged sometimes violent demonstrations. Some broke into U.S. military installations or threw firebombs. There have been no injuries.

"Sound criticism of U.S. policies can be accepted but indiscriminate anti-Americanism is not helpful for our national interest," Kim told a Cabinet meeting.

"Illegal, violent demonstrations can never be justified under any circumstances, so the government will strictly deal with them by law."

Kim ordered his Cabinet to "work out measures to improve the status-of-forces agreement governing U.S. soldiers to prevent a recurrence of similar cases."

He said his defense minister, Lee Jun, will discuss the issue when he meets Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld in Washington this week for annual security consultations.

Thirty-one legislators introduced a resolution in parliament, urging another revision of the status-of-forces agreement for South Korea to have more jurisdiction over U.S. soldiers involved in criminal cases.

About 60 Protestant Christians, led by a white-robed minister holding a large wooden cross, marched toward the U.S. Embassy after a roadside rally in the center of Seoul. They were blocked by police.

At a public park a block from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, 20 Roman Catholic priests continued a hunger protest for a second straight day Tuesday to protest the acquittals.

"For me, this is like a national independence movement," said Rev. Rah Seung-goo, who was wrapped in a blanket.

The priests planned to protest for nine days.

Activists and entertainers singers promised to organize large-scale protests.

"I am not anti-American but I think the United States should do something," pop star Lee Jung-hyun said.

The status-of-forces agreement, first signed in 1966, has been revised twice to give South Korea more jurisdiction over U.S. soldiers involved in criminal cases. But many South Koreans believe the accord still puts local people at a disadvantage.

It was unclear what the president meant when he said the accord needs to be "improved." His justice minister, Sim Sang-myoung, said last week that South Korea had no plan to demand another revision after it was revised in December in 2000 and put into effect in April last year.

The latest revision, the president said, gives South Korea "the same level of jurisdiction over U.S. soldiers as in Japan and Germany."

Previously, U.S. soldiers involved in any crimes had remained in U.S. custody until all appeals were exhausted under the South Korean legal system.

The revised accord allows South Korea to take into custody U.S. soldiers accused of murder, rape, arson, drug trafficking and other serious crimes.

But it also gives the U.S. military jurisdictional rights over American soldiers accused of crimes while on duty, though South Korea can try them on a case-by-case basis.

Sgt. Mark Walker and Sgt. Fernando Nino were in an armored vehicle that hit and killed two 13-year-old Korean girls — Shim Mi-son and Shin Hyo-sun — during a training exercise near the border with North Korea on June 13.

The case became a campaign issue ahead of Dec. 19 presidential elections, with leading candidates urging an accord revision giving South Korea more jurisdictional power.

Mr. Bush's apology was delivered to the girls' families through U.S. ambassador Thomas Hubbard. Hubbard said Mr. Bush asked him to express "his sadness and regret over this tragic incident and to reiterate the United States' commitment to work closely with the Republic of Korea to help prevent such accidents from occurring in the future."

U.S. military officials in South Korea, which hosts 37,000 U.S. soldiers, have repeatedly apologized for the incident, and Secretary of State Colin Powell has also expressed regret.

In statements released last week, the two soldiers also offered condolences to the families.

"I realize nothing that I can do or say will bring your daughters back, but I hope that you will accept my deepest apology," said Nino, commander of the mine-clearing vehicle.

"Even though it was an accident, I feel great remorse over this tragedy," said Walker, the driver.

The death of the schoolgirls is not the first incident to raise tension during American forces' long and large presence in East Asia.

Okinawan residents have often protested the U.S. presence there, especially after the 1995 gang rape of a local girl by three U.S. servicemen. And the 2001 accident involving the U.S. submarine Greenville and a Japanese fishing craft, which killed nine, angered the Japanese government.