[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] A female Air Force officer has claimed that she was sexually harassed and sexually molested by a male non-commissioned officer (NCO), but was instead turned into the perpetrator.
According to sources on the 27th, female officer Lieutenant A was commissioned in December 2019. She was assigned to an Air Force unit in Incheon in January last year, but the male NCO began to exert military command control over her.
The male NCO entered Lieutenant A’s room without knocking and said, "I'm bored, play with me," and during the Christmas holiday, he asked her to "go on a date." Despite Lieutenant A consulting with the unit commanders about the male NCO’s misconduct, only a targeted investigation against Lieutenant A began. At that time, the unit commander ordered an investigation into incidents between Lieutenant A and the unit members over the past year, and the investigation received reports including insubordination and accusations that Lieutenant A hugged male unit members from behind. The Air Force Headquarters placed Lieutenant A on ‘suspension pending prosecution’ in July last year, and eventually Lieutenant A was prosecuted on charges of sexual harassment and had to stand trial.
Lieutenant A’s side claims that she was subjected to a sweeping retaliatory and sniper-style investigation simply because she was disliked by the commanders, and that she was falsely accused of forced molestation. The female officer’s side filed a complaint with the Ministry of National Defense Prosecutor’s Office against three Air Force commanders and personnel from the Gender Equality Center for abuse of authority and neglect of duty, and in September submitted a petition to the Minister of National Defense.
Lieutenant A’s side stated, “We impeached the male NCO’s indictment for sexual harassment because it contained false information, but the NCO’s side is unilaterally attempting to amend the indictment.”
Regarding this, the National Human Rights Commission recently recommended to the Minister of National Defense that ‘targeted investigations into a specific individual’s duties or overall life’ be explicitly classified as a type of ‘military discipline disruption’ under Article 3 of the Enforcement Rules of the Act on the Status and Service of Military Personnel.
The Human Rights Commission urged the Minister of National Defense to “provide the female officer currently on trial with sufficient opportunity to explain herself during the investigation, and if necessary, instruct the Chief of Staff of the Air Force to take personnel measures and other actions to protect the victim.”
The Ordinary Military Court of the Air Defense Control Command in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, is scheduled to hold the fourth hearing of the first trial this afternoon.
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