[Breaking] Military Prosecutors Detain Two Superior Officers for Secondary Harassment of Female Sergeant

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Two superiors accused of secondary harm in the case of Sergeant Lee, an Air Force member who died after sexual harassment, were arrested on the 12th.

The Military Court of the Ministry of National Defense issued arrest warrants for Warrant Officer Noh and Staff Sergeant Noh, both belonging to the Air Force 20th Fighter Wing, on the same day. This comes three months after the incident occurred.

The military court applied charges of forced sexual harassment and dereliction of duty against Warrant Officer Noh, and charges of dereliction of duty against Staff Sergeant Noh.

Immediately after the warrants were issued, they were taken into custody and detained in the pretrial detention center of the Support Unit within the Ministry of National Defense compound in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

Earlier, the military court conducted the warrant hearings for Warrant Officer Noh around 3 p.m. and for Staff Sergeant Noh around 4:50 p.m.

They are accused of knowing about Sergeant Lee’s sexual harassment victimization in early March but failing to report it promptly to their superiors. They are also suspected of secondary harm by persuading the victim not to file an official report.

The prosecution requested arrest warrants for the two on charges including dereliction of duty the day before, and secured their custody after the warrants were issued.

Notably, at the time of requesting the arrest warrants, charges of 'coercion to meet' under the Special Act were also applied in addition to the allegations specified in the complaint by the bereaved family.

Furthermore, the Ministry of National Defense stated that, separately from this case, Warrant Officer Noh was also charged with forced sexual harassment related to a past incident where he allegedly sexually harassed Sergeant Lee during a company dinner.

During the pre-arrest hearings held sequentially that afternoon, both Warrant Officer Noh and Staff Sergeant Noh reportedly denied all charges.

Meanwhile, the bereaved family insists that a thorough investigation should be conducted into the omissions in reporting and the initial investigation’s inadequacies, which were recently revealed through the National Assembly’s Defense Committee and other channels.