Two Superior Officers Indicted for Coercing Female Sergeant Not to Report Sexual Harassment... 120 Days After Incident

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] On the 30th, the Military Prosecutor's Office of the Ministry of National Defense announced that it has arrested and indicted two superiors of Sergeant Lee from the Air Force 20th Fighter Wing, including Warrant Officer No Mo and Staff Sergeant No Mo, on charges of retaliatory threats and coercion to attend meetings under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (Special Act).

It has been 120 days since the sexual harassment incident on March 2, when those accused of secondary victimization were brought to trial.

Regarding Warrant Officer No, separate from the current sexual harassment case, it was investigated that he directly sexually harassed Sergeant Lee during a past company dinner, and he was also charged with forcible sexual assault on a soldier.

The two are accused of secondary victimization by not immediately reporting to higher authorities after being informed the day after the sexual harassment incident that Sergeant Lee was forcibly sexually assaulted by Staff Sergeant Jang Mo (who has been arrested and indicted), and instead, they allegedly coerced and pressured Sergeant Lee not to file a formal report.

Warrant Officer No is known to have called the victim, who was contemplating a formal report, to a dinner and said, "It's something you might experience once in your life."

Staff Sergeant No reportedly even contacted Sergeant Lee’s boyfriend, saying something to the effect of "Don’t you feel sorry for the perpetrator?" in an attempt to suppress the report.

External experts who are members of the Military Prosecutor's Investigation Review Committee reportedly recommended applying charges of retaliatory threats and coercion to attend meetings under the Special Act against the two, considering these circumstances during the meeting held on the 25th.

Separately from this case, the prosecution also indicted another warrant officer, Yoon Mo, without detention, on charges of forcible sexual assault on a soldier, who is accused of sexually harassing Sergeant Lee about a year ago.

This case was not known at the time because no formal report was filed, but it came to light after the bereaved family submitted a complaint following this recent incident. The family has claimed that Warrant Officer No also tried to persuade the deceased not to report the sexual harassment that occurred a year ago.

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