Bereaved Military Families Criticize Colonel Park Jeonghun's Emergency Relief Rejection, Expelled from Full Committee Meeting
Protest During Human Rights Commission Meeting... Meeting Suspended for Over 10 Minutes
On the 11th, the bereaved families of military death accident victims were expelled after demanding the resignation of Kim Yong-won, a standing commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), who dismissed the emergency relief decision against former Marine Corps Investigation Unit Commander Colonel Park Jeong-hoon during an NHRC meeting.
Seven bereaved families, including the late Private First Class Yoon Seung-joo and the late Sergeant Lee Ye-ram, who died due to harsh treatment by a senior soldier in 2014, shouted during the plenary session held at the NHRC in Jung-gu, Seoul, "Fix the Military Human Rights Protection Officer system properly," and "Why did you dismiss Colonel Park Jeong-hoon's emergency relief application?" when Commissioner Kim spoke.
The meeting was also attended by Military Human Rights Protection Committee members Won Min-kyung and Han Seok-hoon. The bereaved families held up A4-sized placards reading, "Resign Kim Yong-won, Military Human Rights Protection Officer, and Committee members Won Min-kyung and Han Seok-hoon, who ignored military human rights and dismissed Colonel Park Jeong-hoon's emergency relief," prompting Chairman Song to request restraint.
Commissioners Kim and Lee Choong-sang demanded the families leave. After about three minutes of loud exchanges, the families were expelled, and the meeting was suspended for over 10 minutes.
The families argue that the Military Human Rights Protection Committee failed to fulfill its role when it dismissed Colonel Park's emergency relief application on the 29th of last month.
The bereaved families also visited the NHRC on the 5th, requesting a meeting with Commissioner Kim but left without meeting him.
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Earlier, the Military Human Rights Center applied for emergency relief on the 14th of last month, claiming that Colonel Park, who was investigating the case of Corporal Choong-mo who died during flood search operations in Yecheon-gun, Gyeongbuk Province, was experiencing human rights violations, but the request was not accepted.
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