Jeong Kyeong-du "No sick leave without treatment documents... Choo's son documents not yet verified"

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo is attending the government questioning session on diplomacy, unification, and security held at the National Assembly plenary session on the 15th, responding to lawmakers' questions. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-du stated that sick leave cannot be granted without medical documents. Regarding Private Seo, the son of Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae, who received 19 days of sick leave based on 4 days of medical documents, he responded, "The documents cannot be verified." He acknowledged that young people who were unable to extend their leave by phone suffered disadvantages, saying, "Commanders should have been more considerate."

Minister Jeong made these remarks on the 15th during a National Assembly interpellation session in response to People Power Party lawmaker Ha Tae-kyung's question, saying, "I understand that the regulations are originally set that way."

Lawmaker Ha revealed some text messages from young people and their parents who were in similar situations related to the recent preferential treatment allegations involving Minister Choo’s son. He disclosed some of these messages, saying, "Private Seo received 19 days of sick leave for 4 days of treatment, but this person (the informant) only had 3 days of medical documents and thus could only get 4 days of sick leave," and asked, "There is not much difference in their situations, so was this person also discriminated against?"

Minister Jeong responded that the informant’s case complied with the regulations. When Ha countered, "Then there was preferential treatment, right?" Jeong replied, "Regarding Private Seo’s situation, there are various supporting documents such as treatment and diagnosis records and medical expense statements that need to be verified, but they cannot be confirmed at this time."

Ha also disclosed another case of a young man who inquired about extending sick leave by phone but was told to "return first," and asked, "Private Seo’s phone inquiry for sick leave extension was processed normally, so did this soldier suffer a disadvantage?"

Minister Jeong said, "The regulations and orders currently applied by the Ministry of National Defense are not targeted at any specific soldier but are commonly applied to all soldiers serving their mandatory duty who dedicate themselves to the country," adding, "If such a case did occur, the commander should have been more considerate."

Ha’s third example involved a young man who was told that sick leave extension was not possible because it must be reviewed by the military hospital’s recuperation review committee. When Ha asked, "Isn’t this discrimination compared to Private Seo, who did not undergo such a review?" Minister Jeong evaded, saying, "It is difficult to say yes or no on that point at this time."

Ha pressed, "There are countless soldiers who did not receive benefits. If the overwhelming majority did not receive benefits and only Private Seo did, isn’t this preferential treatment?" Minister Jeong responded, "The orders are not for special cases, and many other soldiers have also received benefits," adding, "In the past four years, the Korean Military Support Group has handled 35 cases of leave extension, with 5 cases of extensions more than twice."

Rep. Ha Tae-kyung of the People Power Party is questioning Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo during the government-wide inquiry on diplomacy, unification, and security held at the National Assembly plenary session on the 15th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

Lawmaker Ha stated that only Private Seo meets all three conditions: ▲possible to notify leave extension by phone without returning to the unit ▲possible to receive 19 days of sick leave for 4 days of hospital treatment ▲possible to extend sick leave without review, and said, "The majority of the public did not receive benefits like Private Seo, so the public has become the underdog. Apologize to our youth and their parents."

Just before the interpellation session, Ha compared the duty soldier who revealed the leave controversy involving Private Seo, son of Minister Choo, to 'David' and Minister Choo to 'Goliath,' saying, "A battle between David and Goliath is taking place in South Korea."

He said, "The son of General Goliath enjoyed leave freely thanks to the aides of his mother, the party leader, and the aides of the Defense Minister, and even tried to secure a position as an interpreter for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics while serving in the military. However, there was a duty soldier who notified him to return promptly according to regulations. President Moon should award medals to these Davids instead of branding them as criminals." He also called for fellow lawmakers to join him in proposing a so-called "Choo Minister’s Son Prevention Act," which would impose criminal penalties for military personnel appointment requests.

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