Joint Committee and Ministry of National Defense, Continuous Discord (Comprehensive)

Park Eun-jung, co-chair of the Civil-Military Joint Committee, is greeting attendees at an emergency interim meeting related to the death of a Navy non-commissioned officer who was a victim of sexual harassment, held on the 17th at the Defense Convention in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. On this day, the joint committee is scheduled to receive a report from the Navy on the progress of the incident and future action plans, and to discuss related measures. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Discord continues to arise between the Ministry of National Defense and the Civil-Military Joint Committee (hereafter Joint Committee). Following the resignation of two members due to dissatisfaction over the death of a Navy sergeant who was a victim of sexual harassment, two more members from the Ministry of National Defense have expressed their intention to resign, citing the Ministry’s apparent lack of will to improve the military judicial system.

According to military sources on the 23rd, two members of the 4th subcommittee responsible for improving the military judicial system within the Joint Committee announced their resignation on the 21st. These members, part of the 4th subcommittee, had proposed the abolition of the military court during peacetime within the Joint Committee, but decided to resign after the Ministry of National Defense rejected the proposal.

On the 20th, the Ministry of National Defense omitted the 4th subcommittee’s previously approved proposal to abolish the military court during peacetime from its briefing materials to the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly. At that time, the Ministry mentioned in the briefing materials regarding future plans of the 4th subcommittee the “operation plan for the military court during peacetime,” stating that “concerns about abolishing the military court during peacetime are being reviewed, and various opinions are being discussed, including gathering the Ministry’s stance.”

Until now, the 4th subcommittee of the Joint Committee has been handling the proposal to abolish the military court during peacetime. Although this was recommended to the Ministry of National Defense, there was strong opposition within the Ministry against abolishing the military court during peacetime. In response to criticism that the military was undermining the Civil-Military Joint Committee, Minister of National Defense Seo Wook held an emergency meeting with the chiefs of staff of the Army, Navy, and Air Force on the 22nd. Minister Seo reportedly called in Army Chief Nam Young-shin, Navy Chief Bu Seok-jong, and Air Force Chief Park In-ho to discuss measures regarding the abolition of the military court during peacetime, the transfer of some military prosecution duties to civilian prosecutors, and the controversy over the resignation of civilian members of the Civil-Military Joint Committee.

Regarding this, Kim Jong-dae, former member of the National Assembly and head of the 4th subcommittee of the Joint Committee, stated in a position paper distributed to reporters covering the Ministry of National Defense that he “expects the entire Joint Committee to reasonably approve the improvement plan centered on the abolition of the military court during peacetime,” adding that the plan is “a valuable achievement reflecting the reform will of the civilian members of the subcommittee.”

He also expressed regret that “some members resigned without clearly stating their reasons,” but said, “this is understood as a personal decision rather than internal discord within the subcommittee, and the subcommittee respects this,” asking to wait for the final outcome.

Earlier, following the emergency temporary meeting held on the 17th regarding the death of the Navy sergeant who was a victim of sexual harassment, two members of the Joint Committee also expressed their intention to resign. In response, Co-chair Park Eun-jung stated through the Ministry of National Defense that “it is not true that the resignation intentions of some members reflect discord within the entire Joint Committee, and this is very regrettable.”

The Civil-Military Joint Committee was launched on June 28 following President Moon’s directive after the death of a female Air Force non-commissioned officer due to sexual harassment. It is co-chaired by former Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Chair Park Eun-jung and Minister of National Defense Seo Wook, and is composed of four subcommittees: “Protection of Soldiers’ Human Rights and Improvement of Organizational Culture (1st subcommittee),” “Prevention of Sexual Violence and Protection of Victims (2nd subcommittee),” “Improvement of Soldiers’ Living Conditions (3rd subcommittee),” and “Improvement of the Military Judicial System (4th subcommittee).”

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