Law "Soldier Prosecuted for 'Insulting Superior' After Personnel Appointment... Promotion Cancellation Is Unfair"

Seoul Administrative Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A court ruling has stated that the Ministry of National Defense's decision to 'cancel' the promotion of an Air Force officer, who was subject to a military court trial on charges including insulting a superior after a promotion order was issued, should be overturned.

On the 19th, the Administrative Division 2 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Shin Myeonghee) announced that it ruled in favor of Officer A in the first trial of the administrative lawsuit filed against the Minister of National Defense to cancel the deletion from the list of promotion candidates.

Previously, the Ministry of National Defense issued a personnel order on September 20, 2019, stating that Officer A would be promoted effective October 1. However, on September 25 of the same year, Officer A was referred to a military court trial on charges of defamation and insult against a superior. The Ministry of National Defense took issue with this, deleting Officer A from the list of promotion candidates and issuing an order invalidating the promotion.

Officer A filed an administrative lawsuit against this decision. The court canceled the Ministry of National Defense's decision, stating, "(Officer A's side) was designated the same day as the deadline for submitting opinions, so it cannot be considered that a proper opportunity to submit opinions was given," and this ruling was finalized as is.

Subsequently, the Ministry of National Defense granted about two weeks for submitting opinions and again took measures to delete Officer A from the list of promotion candidates and cancel the personnel order for the same reasons as before. Officer A also once again approached the administrative court.

The court ruled in favor of Officer A. The prosecution of Officer A occurred 'after the promotion order,' so it was judged that this does not fall under the case of 'prosecution before the promotion order' as stated in the Military Personnel Act.

It was also mentioned that Officer A was acquitted in the military court trial's appellate process and is currently awaiting the Supreme Court's decision. The court stated, "If Officer A receives a not guilty verdict, he will be promoted as scheduled, but since he is expected to be discharged in 2022 and relief based on the criminal case outcome is difficult," and added, "therefore, a trust in the promotion has been established as the prior decision was ruled illegal and finalized."

Furthermore, "Overall, the disadvantage Officer A would suffer from being deleted from the list of promotion candidates is significantly greater than the public interest in deleting him," the court added. The Ministry of National Defense has appealed this ruling.

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