In Soldier Group Chat, Superior Called 'Mchn Inga?'... Court Rules "Not Guilty of Defamation"

A soldier who posted the phrase 'ㅁㅊㄴ인가?' about his squad leader in a group chat with fellow soldiers in the barracks was acquitted of the charge of insulting a superior officer.

According to the court on the 11th, the Uijeongbu District Court Criminal Division 3 (Judge Jeong Seohyeon) acquitted Mr. A, who was prosecuted for insulting a superior officer.

Uijeongbu District Court. [Image source=Yonhap News]

In August 2022, while serving in a certain military unit, Mr. A captured a screen showing Sergeant B, the squad leader, accidentally posting a message promoting his personal online account in the unit's chatroom, and posted it in another chatroom with 18 members including squad members, expressing disbelief with the message "What is this? ㅁㅊㄴ인가?"

Afterwards, Sergeant B, upon learning of this, reported Mr. A to the military investigative agency, and an investigation began. The military prosecution applied the charge of insulting a superior officer to Mr. A and prosecuted him. Meanwhile, Mr. A, who had been discharged, was tried at the Uijeongbu District Court.

Article 64(1) of the Military Criminal Act states, "A person who insults a superior officer to their face shall be punished by imprisonment or detention for not more than two years."

Paragraph 2 of the same article states, "A person who insults a superior officer by publicly displaying documents, drawings, or images, or by speech or other public methods shall be punished by imprisonment or detention for not more than three years."

The court acknowledged that the expression 'ㅁㅊㄴ' used by Mr. A is commonly used online as an abbreviation of the initial consonants of '미친놈' (crazy person), which can be considered an insulting expression.

However, the court ruled that the chatroom where Mr. A posted the message was a space where soldiers of similar rank in the barracks communicate comfortably among themselves, and that it did not disrupt military order to a degree warranting restriction, thus falling within the protected area of freedom of expression.

The court stated, "Even if soldiers have complaints about their superiors, it is often difficult to express them face-to-face, so it is common for them to express dissatisfaction using slang or profanity within chatrooms intended for communication among themselves. Unless such behavior seriously disrupts military order and the legitimate command structure, it should be protected by freedom of expression."

It added, "The expression was used only once, and the degree of insult implied by this expression, which is not uncommon online, is minor."

However, the court found Mr. A guilty of the charge of coercion in connection with repeatedly summoning and harassing a junior soldier suspected of being an informant immediately after the incident, and sentenced him to a fine of 5 million won.

Mr. A argued, "I only reprimanded the junior because there were issues such as sleeping in another barracks," but the court judged, "Based on the conversation at the time, it appears not to be a simple reprimand but an attempt to identify and interrogate the informant."

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