Court acquits American APC driver

The American Military Tribunal acquitted American army sergeant Mark Walker, the driver of an armored personnel carrier, who had run over two 13-year-old South Korean schoolgirls in June this year.

For 5 hours on Friday, before the verdict was declared, near the American military base in Seoul's environs, a demonstration of South Korean students and activists, indignant at the acquitting verdict passed the day before in regard to another crew member of the APC, was underway.

The news of the acquittal of the driver of the 50-ton APC shocked the demonstrators at first, and then they started to throw rotten eggs and bottles with paint at the base.

The protest organizers labeled the judges' decision as "shameful" and called once again to an immediate withdrawal of all American troops from South Korea.

A number of political parties supported the protesters: they called upon the government to reconsider the terms of the military agreement with the US, which does not permit South Korean courts to consider violations by American servicemen of the country's laws.

Over 37,000 US military are deployed in South Korea as of now.