Military Official: "Minister Chu's Son's Leave Is Within Regulations... Commander's Discretion"

Military Personnel Officer: "Extension Application Possible by Phone, Documents Can Be Submitted Later"
"No Surgery Planned During Leave, Result of Inability to Systematically Adjust Leave"

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae is arriving at the Government Complex Gwacheon on the 10th. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] A military personnel affairs official stated that applying for leave extension by phone and submitting documents later in relation to the allegations of preferential treatment for Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae's son is not against regulations. The decision on returning to the unit and whether to extend leave is at the discretion of the commander, and in the case of Minister Choo's son, since there was no surgery planned when he went on leave (sick leave), the situation arose because the leave adjustment was not done systematically.

An anonymous military personnel affairs official appeared on TBS Radio's "Kim Eo-jun's News Factory" on the 10th and said, "According to Army Regulation 120 on barracks life, it states, 'If it is unavoidable and one cannot return within the period, the necessary period should be approved by the authorizing officer by any possible means. The authorizing officer must immediately correct and issue the leave order.' So the means used are not problematic."

Minister Choo's son, Mr. Seo, is under suspicion of preferential treatment because he applied for an extension by phone without returning during his leave. The official said, "There is no regulation in the Army that one must enter and exit the unit after leave ends, so when extending leave, it is at the commander's discretion whether to say 'enter and then leave again' or 'just continue leave while staying as is.' This is flexibility in command authority."

He added, "The controversy arises because different people in society think differently about whether this is acceptable or not. This is within the commander's domain, so individuals may have different thoughts and make different judgments."

Regarding whether submitting related documents later is against regulations, he said, "No. Since the documents are submitted upon returning from leave, applying for extension by phone and submitting documents after returning is allowed. If the submitted documents are incomplete or missing dates, it is treated as personal leave, so it is not unfair."

He also pointed out that there was no surgery plan when Mr. Seo went on sick leave. The official said, "When Minister Choo's son initially went on sick leave, there was no plan to undergo surgery. When surgery is needed, one goes to a military hospital and is then transferred to a civilian hospital for surgery and more comfortable rest, which is not a problem. But in this case, he went on sick leave, had surgery, and needed additional recovery time, which was an unexpected situation."

He continued, "This resulted from the unit and individual not being able to adjust the leave more systematically."

When asked if this would have been an issue if he were not the minister's son, he replied, "Since situations differ by unit and standards differ by commander, I cannot say for sure in general cases, but many commanders would approve such a request."

Regarding Mr. Seo's total leave days, he said, "The average leave days for Army soldiers discharged in 2018 was 54 days, excluding sick leave." In Mr. Seo's case, excluding 19 days of sick leave, it is 39 days.

On allegations of requests for favors, he said, "It is impossible for a KATUSA soldier stationed in Dongducheon to be transferred to Yongsan just because they requested it." He added, "Initially, personnel are assigned to units by random numbers (numbers without a specific order or rule). After assignment, if there is a necessity or legitimate reason for a person to work in Yongsan, adjustments can be made. However, changing assignments simply based on requests without others' consent or without regulations is currently impossible under the military system."

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