Funeral for Late Sergeant Lee Yeram Held After 3 Years and 2 Months

Held as Air Force Squadron Commander from 18th to 20th, buried at Seoul National Cemetery

The funeral of the late Air Force Sergeant Lee Yeram, a victim of sexual violence, will be held 3 years and 2 months after her death.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 11th, the Air Force announced, "The funeral of the late Sergeant Lee Yeram will be held from the 18th to the 20th of this month at the Armed Forces Capital Hospital funeral hall, and it will be conducted as a regimental funeral for the 15th Special Mission Wing Operations Support Squadron, where she last served." They added, "We pray for the repose of the deceased and extend our deepest condolences and comfort to the bereaved family."

The family of Sergeant Lee has expressed that they would not hold the funeral until those responsible for her death receive appropriate punishment. Her body is currently kept at the morgue of the Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Sergeant Lee is scheduled to be interred at the National Seoul National Cemetery. In February of last year, she qualified for burial in the national cemetery following the Air Force Ordinary Service-Related Death Review Committee’s decision recognizing her death as a service-related death.

In March 2021, while serving at the Air Force 20th Fighter Wing, Sergeant Lee was sexually harassed by her senior, Sergeant Jang, and after reporting the incident to her unit, she was transferred to the 15th Wing. However, she suffered secondary victimization through inducement and pressure from Sergeant Jang and other superiors, and about two months after the incident, she took her own life.

Following criticism that the military authorities’ investigation into the case was inadequate, a special investigation team was launched, and eight individuals, including Sergeant Jang and former Air Force Legal Office Chief Jeon Ik-su, were prosecuted. Sergeant Jang was sentenced to seven years in prison by the Supreme Court in September 2022 on charges including forced molestation causing injury and is currently serving his sentence. In February of this year, an additional one-year prison sentence was confirmed for him for defaming Sergeant Lee by falsely claiming that she was falsely accused by colleagues.

Former Chief Jeon Ik-su and six others are undergoing second trial proceedings, and lawyer Kim, who manipulated recordings related to the case of Sergeant Lee’s death, had his two-year prison sentence confirmed in September of last year.

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