Jung Kyung-doo: "I also grant leave verbally if there is a valid reason"

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo attended the government questioning session on diplomacy, unification, and security held at the National Assembly plenary session hall on the 15th and is proceeding to speak as scheduled. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-du responded to the question, "Have you ever granted leave verbally during your active duty?" by saying, "If there is a valid reason, leave is granted," and added that there are many cases similar to that of Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae's son, Mr. Seo.

On the 15th, during a government inspection session at the National Assembly, Minister Jeong answered People Power Party lawmaker Seong Il-jong's question by saying, "For example, if someone requests it and there is a valid reason, leave is granted."

He said, "According to our regulations and instructions, if an individual has an unavoidable situation, leave can be extended by phone," to which lawmaker Seong responded, "unavoidable situations refer to natural disasters or special cases, but what exactly happened with Private Seo?" He pointed out, "On June 23, when the sick leave ends, he must report back and then take personal leave again."

Minister Jeong replied, "Since the prosecution is investigating, I can say that there are records, but they have not been clearly organized, and there are administrative errors," adding, "Because of these issues, I cannot explain precisely."

Minister Jeong stated, "In the past four years, the Korean Military Support Group has had 35 cases of leave extensions, and there were 5 cases of extensions more than twice," indicating that there are many cases of verbal leave extensions besides Private Seo. In response, lawmaker Seong said, "That data is related to sick leave," and criticized, "(Soldiers who have to travel 10 hours round trip from Haenam or Tongyeong) versus someone (Private Seo) who is 20 to 30 minutes away from the unit?who is really following military discipline?"

When lawmaker Seong raised the issue that Private Seo extended his sick leave without a medical review and asked, "Is it fair that hospitalized patients receive medical reviews while mild patients extend sick leave without them?" Minister Jeong evaded the question by saying, "In any case, the purpose of the medical review is to prevent abuse by soldiers."

In response, lawmaker Seong criticized, "Only Minister Choo's son extended sick leave without hospitalization or medical review," and said, "Others who were not hospitalized had to return to the unit on crutches. If this is not for a specific person, then what is it?"

Minister Jeong replied, "Let me reiterate that when an individual takes personal leave like this, it would have gone through an approval process beforehand," adding, "However, the administrative processing to prove these facts has not been done, and the prosecution is currently investigating."

On this day, the People Power Party focused their questioning on Minister Jeong regarding the allegations involving Minister Choo's son. During lawmaker Seong's questioning, voices from ruling party members shouting, "They have been doing this all day, stop it now," could be heard.

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