Forced to lie face down and threatened with fists and feet
Marine Corps says "Video staged by peers"
"Hard to believe... Even if staged, it's a problem"
A video seemingly showing harsh treatment between senior and junior members within the Marine Corps is spreading through social networking services (SNS). The Marine Corps, which launched a fact-finding investigation, explained that it was a “staged video among peers,” but the video is being criticized as inappropriate.
On the Facebook page ‘Delivering Army Training Center News’ (hereinafter YookDaeJeon), a video suspected of harsh treatment within the Marine Corps was posted on the 26th of last month. The video, uploaded on Instagram, shows a person presumed to be a senior in the Marine Corps threatening a junior who is lying face down in a prone position with punches and kicks.
The video also included the phrase “We raise tough juniors.” ‘Juniors’ is presumed to be an abbreviation of ‘junior members.’ The person presumed to be the senior also grabbed the junior’s hair with his hand.
The informant of the video stated that the video was uploaded on Instagram around March to April, and similar videos depicting harsh treatment have been continuously posted. They added, “Is it really true that harsh treatment has been eradicated in the military?”
As the video became controversial, the Marine Corps previously stated, “We are investigating the facts, and based on the investigation results, we will strictly handle the matter according to laws and regulations,” adding, “We will continue to promote military culture innovation activities to prevent recurrence of similar incidents.”
The Marine Corps later explained that the person who filmed the video and the soldiers in the video are “peers” and that it was a “staged video.” In other words, they claimed it was not actual harsh treatment.
However, netizens expressed skepticism about the Marine Corps’ explanation. Comments included, “The problem is the military sees this as just a joke among peers,” and “There’s no reason to stage something like that,” showing suspicion of harsh treatment.
One netizen pointed out, “Even if it is true that this is a joke among peers, isn’t it also a problem that such jokes still occur in the military and are spread through SNS?”
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