Soldiers Face Sexual Harassment, Officers Commit Sexual Assault... Ongoing Incidents Within the Military

On the 8th, when the military leave that had been restricted to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) was resumed normally, soldiers departing on leave were waiting for the train at Seoul Station. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Sexual-related incidents and accidents within the military continue unabated. Following habitual sexual harassment by senior soldiers, illegal downloading of sexual exploitation materials, and sexual assault cases involving military officers have occurred in succession.

According to the Military Human Rights Center (hereafter the Center) on the 2nd, it was revealed that one corporal and three sergeants from the 1st Marine Division tormented a junior soldier at a level close to sexual torture every day for six months starting from December last year.

Currently discharged Private A reportedly began sexually harassing the victim by hitting the back of the victim’s head dozens of times over about 30 minutes on a bus returning to the main base from a deployment site last December, after the victim closed the window without his permission. He continued sexual harassment by showing his genitals to the victim and pressing them against the victim’s face. It is also reported that Private A handed over the victim to his junior, Corporal B, before his discharge.

According to the victim’s testimony, Corporal B touched the victim’s body parts and assaulted him more than 10 times a day under the pretext of “let’s go smoke.” He also pretended to have sexual intercourse with the victim in the barracks and committed cruel acts such as urinating on the victim in the shower room. During this process, the victim was reportedly forced to say “thank you” every time the senior soldiers touched his body.

The Center filed a complaint with the military prosecution at the end of July against the four perpetrators for charges including forced molestation, special forced molestation, and habitual assault under the Military Criminal Act, according to the victim’s wishes. The Marine Corps Headquarters stated that the investigation into this case has been ongoing since July and that “on the 21st of last month, three active-duty perpetrators (two sergeants and one corporal) were detained on charges of forced molestation and assault.” One discharged perpetrator’s case was transferred to the local police station.

A KATUSA (Korean Augmentation To the United States Army) private is also under investigation for allegedly downloading illegal obscene materials via social networking services (SNS) before enlistment.

According to the Army, Private A, assigned to a unit in Gyeonggi Province who enlisted earlier this year, is suspected of downloading and possessing sexually exploitative videos on SNS at the end of last year. Civilian police detected Private A’s alleged offense, and the military police took over the case, conducting additional investigations such as digital forensic analysis of the mobile phone. So far, the investigation indicates that Private A is not connected to the Telegram “Doctor’s Room,” where sexual exploitation materials were distributed.

Staff Sergeant A and Lieutenant Colonel B of the Defense Intelligence Command, who are accused of sexually assaulting a North Korean defector woman, have also been indicted. They are investigated to have forcibly raped North Korean defector C, who was under official protection and supervision as an intelligence operation target, between May 2018 and February last year. Staff Sergeant A habitually committed sexual crimes, including raping the victim after giving her alcohol in May 2018, and Lieutenant Colonel B reportedly also raped the victim when she sought help. The victim’s lawyer claimed at the time of filing the complaint last year that the victim was twice pregnant and was forced to have abortions.

Since being sued, the two have been excluded from their duties and have been under investigation. It is known that disciplinary procedures will be initiated once the court’s verdict is finalized.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.