A man in his 20s who repeatedly took leave from military service by falsely claiming that his father was undergoing liver cancer surgery has been given a suspended prison sentence.
On May 1, the Busan District Court's Criminal Division 14, presided over by Chief Judge Kim Hyunseok, announced that it had sentenced Mr. A, who was indicted on charges including falsification of official electronic records, to six months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered him to perform 80 hours of community service.
Mr. A, who was serving as a cook in an Army division, is accused of taking leave five times over a period of 43 days between December 2023 and January 2024, citing his father's liver cancer surgery as the reason. In reality, Mr. A's father had never been diagnosed with liver cancer, nor had he received any medical treatment or surgery.
Mr. A reported to his unit that his leave was for "nursing his father after liver cancer surgery," but in fact, he spent the time meeting friends and playing PC games. During his leave, he contacted his unit to claim that "his father's condition had worsened after surgery and another operation was needed" in order to extend his leave, and he also downloaded forms such as medical opinion letters from Google, filled them out with his father's personal information and a diagnosis, and submitted them to his unit.
Chief Judge Kim stated, "By lying that his father had liver cancer, he obstructed the official duties of the battalion commander and others, and with the intention of evading duty, he forged and used medical opinion and confirmation documents. The nature of the crime is egregious."
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