Supreme Court: Calling a Superior 'Dorai' in Military Peer Group Chat Is Not Insulting the Superior

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A non-commissioned officer who was convicted for calling a military superior "dorai" in a KakaoTalk group chat will be retried.

On the 8th, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Noh Jeonghee) announced that it overturned the guilty verdict in the appeal trial of NCO A, who was charged with insulting a superior, and remanded the case to the High Military Court with a judgment of not guilty.

Previously, Navy NCO A, who enlisted as a non-commissioned officer candidate in 2019 and was undergoing basic training, was prosecuted for posting in a group chat with 75 fellow trainees the phrase "dorai kkk the humidity is so high" directed at superior and life guidance officer B, due to frequent criticism regarding bathhouse cleaning mistakes.

At that time, B instructed A and 10 others to clean the bathhouse and inspected the cleaning status by checking whether their socks were wet. A received a total of 25 demerit points due to criticisms such as failure to remove moisture, and the accumulation of these points led to restrictions on leave and overnight stays. The group chat in question was a space where trainees shared various announcements, voiced grievances, and resolved conflicts.

The first trial acquitted A, but the second trial convicted him. The court ruled that the term "dorai" used by A constituted insulting language that damaged social evaluation and did not fall under justifiable acts under Article 20 of the Criminal Act. Article 20 of the current Criminal Act states, "Acts performed under laws or duties or acts not violating social norms shall not be punished."

However, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial for further review and judgment. The court stated, "While the defendant did use insulting language, a significant number of participants in this private chat room were using vulgar language including swear words," and "the degree of insult implied by the defendant’s expression was minor, and it was merely the use of some inappropriate expressions toward the superior victim in a cyberspace where fellow trainees exchanged grievances and opinions."

Additionally, "there is no indication that this disrupted military organizational order or legitimate command structure, so it is reasonable to view the act as not violating social norms," and "the lower court erred in its legal interpretation regarding the justification for the offense of insulting a superior, which affected the verdict."

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