Only 245 Military Officers Violated COVID Guidelines

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 heading on leave were making their way to the train at Seoul Station. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] It has been revealed that more than 200 military officers violated the COVID-19 quarantine guidelines. By rank, there are 64 officers, 177 non-commissioned and warrant officers, and 4 civilian military personnel, totaling 245 individuals.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of National Defense to Rep. Ha Tae-kyung of the People Power Party, a member of the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly on the 5th, the violations by military officers related to COVID-19 guidelines were recorded as 162 cases in the Army, 53 in the Navy, 29 in the Air Force, and 1 in the Ministry of National Defense direct units. Among them, 24 were dismissed or suspended, 64 received pay cuts, and 157 were reprimanded or given warnings.

It was revealed that an Army officer who held a drinking party caused a commotion trying to identify a soldier who wrote an internal whistleblowing letter about the incident and was disciplined for it.

According to Rep. Ha, in March, an officer of an Army division checked a "letter of heart" demanding a public apology for the drinking party he attended and began to identify the whistleblower. He compared the handwriting of the anonymous whistleblower with the handwriting in the company members' life guidance records one by one to identify who the whistleblower was, then shared this information with other officers. This act violated the "Basic Act on the Status and Service of Soldiers" and related regulations, which prohibit identifying or disclosing the personal information of reporters. The officer was dismissed from his post and received a three-month pay cut as disciplinary action, adding a violation of current laws to the breach of quarantine guidelines.

Rep. Ha said, "Unlike soldiers who endured strict restrictions on going out for 130 days since last February, there is a high risk that the military COVID-19 quarantine system could collapse due to officers who have easier access to outside areas," and added, "Violations by officers must be thoroughly investigated and severely punished when detected."

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