The 'Self-Investigation Results of the Female Sergeant' That Ultimately Ended in Yongdusa-mi

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Although the investigation into the case of the late Air Force Sergeant Lee, who made an extreme choice due to sexual harassment, has concluded, there are criticisms that the investigation was inadequate. The Ministry of National Defense has announced large-scale disciplinary actions related to the case, but not a single person among those responsible for the initial inadequate investigation and the command who faced strong calls for accountability has been prosecuted.

According to the final investigation results announced by the Ministry of National Defense prosecution team on the 7th, a total of 25 people related to the case were criminally charged, of whom 15 were prosecuted. This means half of those charged avoided prosecution.

The Ministry of National Defense took over the case from the Air Force and began reinvestigation on June 1, the day after the case was first reported in the media, under the direction of Minister of National Defense Seo Wook. During the approximately four-month investigation period, a total of 18 search and seizure operations were conducted, and 79 related individuals were investigated in a large-scale investigation. Subsequently, the final investigation results were announced 219 days after March 2, the date the sexual harassment incident occurred. The prosecution team announced an interim investigation result once on July 9 and has focused on identifying the 'initial inadequate investigation' over the past three months. They also conducted extensive publicity, including the sudden deployment of 'special military prosecutors' with functions similar to civilian prosecutors to guarantee independent investigation.

However, in the final investigation results, the prosecution team did not prosecute a single person from the Air Force 20th Wing military police and military prosecutors responsible for the initial investigation, nor the legal office command such as Jeon Ik-su, the Air Force Legal Office Chief, who is in the command and supervision line of the military prosecution. In the case of the commander of the Air Force Headquarters Military Police Corps, since the charge applied was related to 'false reporting to superiors' rather than inadequate investigation, it appears they will also avoid criminal punishment. The prosecution team also non-detained prosecuted two senior officers of the assigned unit, including the 15th Wing battalion commander and company commander, who were additionally sued by the bereaved families for secondary victimization, citing insufficient evidence.

Separately from criminal punishment, the total number of people subject to disciplinary action reaches 38. However, since disciplinary measures are usually decided internally by each military branch when requested by the Ministry of National Defense, most are expected to be minor disciplinary actions.

Currently, the bereaved families are delaying the funeral, keeping Sergeant Lee, who belonged to the Air Force 20th Wing, at the Armed Forces Capital Hospital even after his death.

The Ministry of National Defense stated, "We will do our best to maintain the prosecution so that appropriate sentences corresponding to the crimes are imposed on the prosecuted cases," and added, "We plan to ensure strict and fair disciplinary actions for those subject to discipline."

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