The foreigners-only bars on "Hooker Hill" in the Itaewon red-light district of Seoul have names like Tight Tavern and Texas Club. At night they are jammed with off-duty American soldiers, free to engage in behaviour which is illegal for South Koreans. It was almost deserted when I went there in the afternoon, but an old woman emerged from an alleyway to ask, "Want a nice lady?" and a bar girl, her face caked with make-up, beckoned to passers by from the doorway of the Rocky Top bar.
One of the smallest bars, the Amazon, was locked and deserted. It has been shunned since a 32-year-old hostess called Kim Sung-hi was beaten and strangled in a back room on a recent Saturday by Cpl Christopher McCarthy of the 2nd US Infantry Division. McCarthy (22) confessed he killed her because she would not agree to "unusual" sex, and he was taken into US military custody to await trial in a South Korean court.
The killing rekindled memories of a brutal murder in Itaewon in 1992, when an American soldier beat a woman to death, violated her with a broom, and poured detergent over her naked body. Lurid photographs of her corpse have been put on display at Seoul street demonstrations by protesters from an alliance of 30 civic groups campaigning against the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which governs the presence of 37,000 US troops in South Korea.
The agreement requires Korean authorities to hand over US soldiers suspected of committing a crime. In the words of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party deputy, Mr Ahn Dong-sun, this reduces South Korea to the status of a "third-rate country". Underlining these concerns, McCarthy was able to escape from US custody and wander back to Itaewon before he was recaptured.
"Suspects can destroy evidence, reverse statements or make up a fake alibi while staying in US military bases," explained Li So-hi of the National Campaign for Eradication of Crime by US Troops in Korea.
The latest incident, along with recent reports of American atrocities in the 1950-53 Korean War, and alleged US connivance at the May 1980 massacre by Korean special forces of some 2,000 pro-democracy protesters in Kwangju, have contributed to a debate on anti-US sentiment on the eve of South Korea's first summit meeting with communist North Korea.
Allegations that the US forces show disregard for civilians and the environment have also helped raise the anger of protest groups to a pitch not seen since the 1980s, when they opposed US support for the military regime in South Korea, though now it is more about legal and human rights.
In the village of Maehyang, 80 km south of Seoul, for example, violent protests have become almost a daily occurrence since May 8th, when a US A-10 jet on a practice run at the nearby Koon-ni range, inadvertently dropped six live bombs so close that houses shook as if in an earthquake. A fisherman, Mr Kim Jun Pong, showed me cracks in his plaster, and the wall clock lying where it fell on the floor.
The noise and danger from almost daily strafing runs by US war-planes has long infuriated residents who complain of health and hearing problems.
"The aircraft come in so low that we can see the pilots' faces," said one villager, Mr Park Jangsun, as he walked past part of the razor-wire fence torn down by protesters last week. "I understand the need for having the US planes, but the suffering of the villagers has been going on too long."
It has become unbearable for Mr Kim, owner of a little village store, who claims his house is within permitted practice range. Jabbing his finger at a sketch which he spread out on the floor, he said: "If they hit this part, they get seven points; if this part, five points; and if they accidentally hit the village, they get three points."
An unarmed 10 kg bomb dropped through his bedroom ceiling two years ago while he was in the shop, he said. "It scared the living daylights out of me. They came and collected it and said sorry. I had to patch up the roof myself." Under SOFA, the US is not obliged to compensate for damage to property or health.
"I don't see any difference between the attitude of the Japanese in the past and the practice of using human beings as targets," said another villager, old enough to remember the pre-war Japanese occupation. But when asked if he wanted the Americans to leave he and other elders gave an emphatic no. They emphasised how grateful they were to the United States for its protection against the communist North.
Most South Koreans do not want the Americans to leave. But some do, and their numbers could grow if the US presence becomes an issue in improving all-Korea relations. "How can I be grateful to those who commit such crimes and create so many environmental problems," said Mr Park Hangjoo of the Federation of Trade Unions, at a protest camp beside the Koon-ni range. "I believe South Korea has the ability to defend itself now."