"Can't You Make Us Laugh Even Once?" Forcing a Junior Soldier to Perform Talent Show... Locked in a 31cm Locker

A senior soldier who made a junior soldier perform a talent show and punished him for failing to make him laugh has been disciplined. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article.

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Se-eun] A senior soldier who made a junior soldier perform a talent show and then forced him to do a handstand for failing to make him laugh has been punished.

On the 5th, Judge Park Jin-young of Chuncheon District Court Criminal Division 2 announced that A (22), who was indicted for joint coercion, special assault, and coercion under the Act on the Punishment of Violent Acts, was sentenced to 4 months in prison with a 1-year probation.

A, who served as a sergeant in the Marine Corps, along with Sergeant B and Corporal C, made Privates First Class D and E perform talent shows for ten days starting from March 4, 2021, out of boredom.

After lights out at 10 p.m., when the senior said "start," D and E had to perform talent shows for about 1 to 2 hours. They had to satisfy the seniors by doing everything from idol dances to impersonations, acrostic poems, and expressing their desire to sleep with their whole body.

When the talent show did not please A, the victims were verbally abused with phrases like "Can't you make your senior laugh even once?" and were subjected to disciplinary punishments such as handstands.

If they lowered their legs or showed other signs of not doing the handstand properly, they were forced to loudly say "Why did I do that?" for 5 minutes, citing "not trying hard enough" as the reason.

Moreover, the victims were forced to enter a metal locker that was only 31 cm wide.

In addition, A struck D’s crown multiple times with crutches because D wore A’s birthday hat without permission.

The crimes occurred in a temporary living quarters where soldiers returning from leave were quarantined as a COVID-19 prevention measure.

Regarding this case, Judge Park stated, "Using the position of senior in the unique environment of the military, the perpetrator forced the victims to perform unnecessary tasks for a considerable period," and added, "The mental and physical pain, shame, and humiliation felt by the victims were not insignificant."

He continued, "However, considering the perpetrators’ remorse, their apologies to the victims, and the amicable settlement, the sentence was determined accordingly."

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