By Kim Da-ye



Three soldiers of the U.S. Force Korea (USFK) are being investigated for allegedly hitting employees and harassing female staff members at the Caribbean Bay Water Park in Yongin, south of Seoul, Saturday.



Korean police handed them over to USFK officials after apprehending them according to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which regulates how to handle crimes committed by U.S. servicemen based here.



The three are from the 210th Field Artillery Brigade based in Camp Casey in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province.



One of the soldiers reportedly spat at an officer while being handcuffed, according to police.



The three were questioned after being detained, but refused to talk, demanding to speak only through legal representatives, according to an officer from the Yongin Dongbu Police Station.



The USFK issued a statement Sunday, saying that they are cooperating with Korean police in the investigation.



"The 210th Field Artillery Brigade does not condone or tolerate misconduct. I will ensure full cooperation with the Korean National Police, and appropriate actions will follow," said Col. Michael J. Lawson, commander of the brigade.



"The incident Saturday is not representative of the favorable relationship between U.S. soldiers and Korean citizens."



Under SOFA, the soldiers will be investigated and handled by Korean police because their alleged offenses took place off duty.



According to testimony police collected from a staff member of Caribbean Bay, the accused smoked inside the water park located in the Everland theme park in Yongin.



Three woman employees guided them to a smoking area, and while they walked together, one soldier allegedly stroked one of the women's back repeatedly. Another soldier is said to have held a female employee's hand after a hi-five and told her she was sexy. Police said that these allegations will have to be verified in the investigation.



The water park staff observed them for about two hours between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., as they reportedly swore loudly and disturbed other guests.



The soldiers were eventually asked to leave. As they exited, they were verbally abusive to staff. An employee told the police that one of the soldiers punched him in the face. The three soldiers and other staff members ended up in a brawl.



The water park staff reported the soldiers to the police around 1:30 p.m. When police tried to take them to the police station and handcuff them, the soldier, who punched the staff member's face, allegedly spat in an officer's face.



Two patrol cars near the water park and detectives were dispatched to the scene.



The soldiers will be investigated without detention, so they were picked up by a U.S. military representative. The USFK officers arrived around midnight. The U.S. military explained in a statement that due to miscommunication, the representatives were delayed in responding to this accident. They vowed to "improve the response time."



Police said that an investigation without detention for their offenses was normal for all residents in Korea, so was not favorable treatment for the soldiers.



