Category: ROK Military

Here is an editorial in the Korea Herald in regards to the sex crime issue currently plaguing the ROK military:

The recent comments made by the Saenuri lawmaker Song Young-keun in relation to a sexual assault case in the military reveal why the country’s military is plagued by sexual crimes and misconducts.

Remarking on a case in which a brigade commander sexually assaulted a female NCO, Song, a retired Army Lt. Gen. who served as the commander of the defense security command, said that the brigade commander rarely went off base and suggested that the man, in his mid-40s, could have suffered from sexual frustration as a result.

The remark is deeply offensive to both men and women. Suggesting that men might commit sex crimes because of unresolved sexual needs debases men as creatures that are compelled to act upon impulse. It is bad enough that the sex crime occurred in the military, where discipline is a priority, but Song’s comment brings great dishonor to all men in the military.

Song’s comments also betray his attitude toward women ― as sexual objects ― that condones sexual violence committed against women. Song further incensed women by referring to the victim as the “sergeant agassi” which can be translated as “sergeant miss.” The usage of the word “agassi” fell out of public favor long ago as women find the term to be pejorative. In fact the term has limited usage today, often used in bars or room salons to refer to a bar hostess.

That a three-star general harbors such attitudes about women and sex crimes is greatly alarming. It is just such attitudes and thinking that perpetuate sex crimes in the military.

It is most unfortunate that Song was part of a National Assembly special committee charged with improving human rights in the military and revamping the military culture. He resigned from the committee on Jan. 30 “taking responsibility for causing trouble with inappropriate remarks.” However, more problematic than the remarks are the deeply embedded attitude toward about sex crimes and sexual objectification of women that the remarks revealed.

Perhaps such attitudes run deep in the military. Perhaps that is why some laughable guidelines ― men and women may not be in a car by themselves, men and women should only use one hand each when shaking hands ― have been suggested by the military in its effort to prevent sex crimes.

The military needs more than such superficial guidelines. It should create an atmosphere where men and women in the military can fight side by side as comrades in arms, regardless of gender. Regular gender equality training could be a starting point.  [Korea Herald]

Everything in the editorial is fair enough, but to really see changes in the ROK military in regards to women than there needs to be changes in Korean society as well.  Servicemembers do not enter the military and suddenly put aside all their sexist beliefs they learned while being a civilian when they put on the uniform.  A culture of not treating women as second class citizens and sex objects needs to be changed well before someone enters the military.  To be fair much has changed for the positive in regards to the treatment of women in Korea over the years and I expect these improvements to continue.

The measures the ROK Army is taking to stop sex crimes is even stricter than anything we have seen in the US Army yet:

The Army is scrambling to come up with a new code of behavior in response to a recent series of sex crimes in barracks.

“A top brass meeting held on Tuesday decided to work out a code of conduct to cope with sex crimes,” an Army spokesman said Thursday. “It will be issued in the name of the Army chief of staff and violators will be subject to punishment under military law.”

Male or female soldiers will be banned from visiting the quarters of soldiers of the opposite sex alone. Soldiers of different genders will only be allowed to shake hands with one hand.

Soldiers of different ranks will be prohibited from dating, and no soldier will be allowed to travel, or stay in the same office, alone with another of the opposite sex. When it is inevitable that they are alone in the same office, they must leave the door open.  [Chosun Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

Female noncommissioned officers salute during their commission ceremony at the Special Warfare Training Group in Gwangju, south of Seoul, on Jan. 30, 2015. (Yonhap)

Just another example of the growing military capabilities of the ROK Navy:

The South Korean Navy on Sunday inaugurated a submarine command as part of efforts to bolster its underwater capabilities and combat readiness against North Korea.

The fleet of the command, based in the southern port city of Jinhae and led by a rear admiral, is composed of 13 submarines under the Ninth Submarine Flotilla, the Navy said in a statement.

The Navy operates nine 1,200-ton submarines and four 1,800-ton subs, while planning to add five more 1,800-ton submarines to be built by 2019. In addition, it plans to deploy nine 3,000-ton submarines capable of launching ballistic missiles, starting in 2020.

The launch made South Korea, which commissioned its first submarine from Germany in 1992, the sixth nation in the world with a submarine command after the United States, Japan, France, Britain and India.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Good luck to Kim Sang-a as she takes on the rigors of becoming a ROK Marine Corps officer:

Kim Sang-a, 24, a sophomore at Jeju National University, has become the first female Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) cadet for the Marine Corps. She will start to receive her training and education next month.

Until recently, female students have not been allowed to apply for the ROTC for the Marine Corps.

Kim, studying in the Department of Marine Industrial and Maritime Police, passed the ROTC screening test in June and completed her two-week military training on Jan. 16 at a Marine boot camp in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province.

Kim’s cadet enlistment ceremony is scheduled for Feb 17.

“Becoming a soldier was my dream,” Kim said.

Born and bred in Seoul, Kim entered the university on Jeju Island to become a female ROTC cadet.  [Korea Times via KoreAm Journal]

You can read more at the link.

It is not looking good for those brigade commander because he has already admitted to what he complains was consensual sex with the staff sergeant:

The military arrested a brigade commander on Tuesday over allegations that he raped a female subordinate multiple times in his military residence in Gangwon, the latest in a series of sexual abuse cases that have shaken the military since last year.

The Army reported on Tuesday that it had arrested the colonel in Gangwon at around 3 p.m., after collecting testimony he had sexually abused a 21-year-old staff sergeant on several occasions since late last year.

The military said it first found out about the case involving the 47-year-old colonel on Monday. His identity has not been revealed, and the military suspects he sexually assaulted the woman more than once at his military residence. The suspect has reportedly denied the charge, claiming the contact was consensual, while the victim has maintained it was forced.

The brigade commander’s arrest follows the apprehension of a major in the same unit, who stands accused of sexually harassing a female staff sergeant.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but I wonder if the ROK Army has the same regulations forbidding relationships like the US Army has?

I wonder if there is more to this story that just went down to the bottom of the Han River:

A former Navy rear admiral under investigation over his alleged involvement in a defense industry graft case jumped off a bridge in a Seoul suburb on Wednesday, police said.

The Gyeonggi Goyang Police Station said an unidentified person called at 8:10 a.m. to say the 61-year-old man, identified only by his surname Ham, plunged off the bridge over the Han River that flows through Seoul into the Yellow Sea.

Ham, also a former executive member of a defense firm, was scheduled to face questioning this morning. Prosecutors said they considered him a witness, rather than a suspect.

The details of the case he was involved in were not immediately clear. He was once in charge of the Navy’s shipbuilding division.

“We send our condolences to the bereaved family for this tragedy,” an official investigating the case said, asking not to be named. “Ham never complained about the interrogation process and we’re confident we’ve followed the proper protocol.”

Police said they discovered a car, a suicide note and a pair of shoes near the scene. Professional divers have been deployed to search for the body, they said.

In November, South Korea launched a task force comprised of prosecutors, military officers and government officials to root out corruption in the defense industry.

The move came after an expensive homegrown salvage ship was proved defective at the peak of efforts to save those missing from a ferry disaster last year. The sinking claimed more than 300 lives.  [Yonhap]

Congratulations to Major Lee for the command assignment and I hope she does well:

A female battery commander has been appointed for the first time in Korean air defense history. Maj. Lee Yeong-mi, selected on Jan. 6, will lead the Patriot artillery unit.

Although the Air Defense Artillery School has had a female battery commander in the past, her appointment is unprecedented because as a commander, Major Lee will be in charge of military operations.

Lee grew up in a military family and long dreamed of becoming an officer. As a child, she often listened to the war stories of her grandfather, who fought for the South during the 1950-53 Korean War.

“I wanted to devote myself to my country, following in the footsteps of my grandfather, and protect it,” Lee said.

She ultimately chose to join the Air Force under her family’s influence. Her father, Lee Seong-kyo, was an Air Force aviation maintenance sergeant when he was discharged from the Army, and her younger brother, Lee Jong-jin, is an Air Force master sergeant.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but it wasn’t that long ago that females in the ROK military were the ones fetching the coffee, so this is another example of how quickly things in Korea can change.

South Korea special forces on extreme weather training, in pictures http://t.co/jVxqMKVHyo @KungPaoKimchi @goldmansachs666 God bless them!

— NorthKoreaRealTime (@BuckTurgidson79) January 8, 2015