"Even the Officer's Tray and Used Tissues Cleaned by the Cook"…Unending Military Abuse Reports

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Seo-young] A controversy has arisen over claims that officers at an Army unit in the Gangwon region leave all the cleaning of leftover food and trash after meals to the cooks.

Today (the 5th), a post was uploaded on the Facebook page 'Delivering Army Training Center News on Behalf' containing a report from an Army unit. The informant stated, "A few weeks ago, the Army Chief of Staff ordered the abolition of the officers' dining hall, but here, they have no intention of doing so," adding, "Senior officers within the battalion have a separate main table where they eat."

The informant continued, "Those senior officers leave the food and dishes left on the trays after meals, as well as used tissues for wiping mouths or blowing noses, toothpicks, and beverage cans, untouched and abandon them to the cooks." They also emphasized repeatedly, "I have mentioned this several times, but all the officers just stand by," and "High-ranking commanders have behaved this way for months now."

The informant expressed frustration, saying, "Every meal, three or four soldiers who are not even cooks wash the trays for all personnel in the battalion," and "It’s an unimaginable and absurd act, but this is how it is done here." They added, "I was afraid of retaliation if I reported it (from the officers' side). I feel like I would be treated like a pest," but also pleaded, "Real change is needed. There are still many abuses I want to expose," and "I don’t care if I lose my leave or have to attend military discipline training. Please help."

In response, the unit stated, "Currently, the military is conducting a comprehensive review of the overall meal environment for soldiers and is working on improvement plans," and explained, "To fundamentally improve the situation by reducing the workload of cooks and creating an equitable dining environment without discrimination between officers and soldiers, we are coordinating with the 'Soldier Living Conditions Improvement Task Force' operated at the Ministry of National Defense level to establish improvement measures that all our soldiers and the public can agree on."

Meanwhile, the post received over 1,400 comments. Netizens reacted with remarks such as, "Are there separate people for eating and cleaning up?", "Even elementary school students clean up after themselves," "Not only in the officers' dining hall but also at outposts, officers have left without cleaning, and we had to tidy up afterward," and "If you are an officer, shouldn’t you set an example for the soldiers?"