Bereaved Family of Double Murder Victim Files Complaint Against Court-Appointed Lawyer Today

Citizens are visiting the condolence altar at the Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on the 6th to pay their respects to the late Sergeant Lee, who endured sexual violence by a senior officer and attempts at persuasion within the Air Force before taking her own life. / Seongnam - Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The family of Air Force Staff Sergeant Lee, who made an extreme choice after reporting sexual harassment, plans to file a complaint on the 7th against the Air Force public defender who initially handled the case, accusing them of dereliction of duty and other charges.

Kim Jeong-hwan, the family's attorney, said in a phone call on the morning of the 7th, "It appears that the public defender took no action until the victim made the 'extreme choice,'" adding, "We plan to file a complaint against public defender A with the Ministry of National Defense prosecution team for dereliction of duty and other charges."

Public defender A, who was assigned by the Air Force to the victim, went on a honeymoon for one week after getting married on May 8 and then underwent two weeks of self-quarantine. During this period, no in-person meetings with the victim took place, and there were only two phone calls. The family claims that the victim, who suffered secondary harm such as coercion after reporting the abuse, was effectively neglected.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense prosecution team investigating the matter is focusing on the Air Force prosecution's lax handling, as they did not investigate the perpetrator for two months after receiving the case. The Air Force police received the victim's report in early March and forwarded the case to the Air Force prosecution with a prosecution opinion on April 7, a month later. However, the Air Force prosecution's first investigation of the perpetrator was on the 31st of last month, 55 days later, and after the victim had passed away.

The Air Force Headquarters Gender Equality Center, which should have taken a leading role in handling the situation, also failed to function properly. The victim appealed about difficulties to the center more than 20 times through their unit, but the center did not even properly report the case to the Ministry of National Defense. In response, the Ministry of National Defense Audit Office plans to begin an audit on the 7th of the Air Force Headquarters Gender Equality Center, the 20th Fighter Wing, and the 15th Special Mission Wing. Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense has formed a 'Sexual Violence Prevention System Improvement Task Force (TF)' led by Personnel Welfare Director Kim Seong-jun to reexamine the response status and system for sexual violence cases.

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