Park Yong-jin: "Military Sexual Crimes, Bystanders Should Be Punished as Severely as Perpetrators... A Rape Clause Must Be Added to the Military Criminal Act"

On the 6th, mourners paid their respects at the funeral hall of Staff Sergeant Lee Mo, a victim of sexual harassment in the Air Force, set up at the Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. / Seongnam = Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Park Yong-jin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who has announced his candidacy for the presidential election, proposed the introduction of a "Good Samaritan System" on the 6th, stating that "sexual crimes within the military that obstruct a soldier from performing their duties are tantamount to acts of treason that threaten national defense beyond just disrupting military discipline," and that bystanders to sexual crimes in the military should be punished as severely as the perpetrators.

On the same day, Park emphasized on his Facebook, "Any organization that protects perpetrators and conceals the facts of sexual crimes despite their occurrence is unqualified to be the military of the Republic of Korea."

He then proposed ▲ the establishment of a new clause in the Military Criminal Act for sexual assault by abuse of authority ▲ the creation of a dedicated investigative unit for sexual crimes under the Ministry of National Defense ▲ the establishment of a dedicated sexual crime division within the military prosecution and expansion of specialized personnel ▲ and the creation of a dedicated sexual crime tribunal within the military court.

He explained, "The Good Samaritan System is a system that allows for punishment or disciplinary action equivalent to that of perpetrators against those who witness or are aware of sexual crimes but fail to report them," adding, "Through this, we must forcibly suppress sexual crimes within the military and establish a constant monitoring system to eradicate organizational concealment of sexual crimes."

Park stated, "Strictly punishing sexual crimes within the military is not only about restoring military discipline but is directly linked to national security. There can be no tolerance or neglect on this issue," and added, "There should be no soldier who commits crimes against comrades and yet continues to advance. The enemy should be outside the military, not within it. I will correct this."

He also said, "Strongly punishing sexual crimes within the military and correcting the distorted organizational culture to restore military discipline should be the first step toward transitioning to a volunteer military system and introducing gender-equal service."