Another Sexual Assault Incident that the Air Force Tried to Cover up

[경향신문]

Lim Tae-hoon, director of the Military Human Rights Center holds a press conference on the indecent assault suffered by a female officer in the Air Force 10th Fighter Wing military police battalion at the Center office in Mapo-gu, Seoul on December 8. Yonhap News

The military police tried to persuade a female officer who was sexually assaulted by a subordinate to drop a lawsuit asking, “Don’t you want to stay in the military for a long time?”

The assailant admitted that he had touched the victim’s body, but the military police decided not to press charges claiming it was hard to say that there was any sexual intention.

The Military Human Rights Center held a press conference at its office in Mapo-gu, Seoul on December 8 and announced, “A case that closely resembled the case of the late Sergeant Lee Ye-ram occurred in the Air Force 10th Fighter Wing around that time.” The Center further explained, “Charges were dropped against the perpetrator and the person who engaged in secondary victimization for absurd reasons. It was extremely similar to the previous case for the Air Force Headquarters legal office was involved and there were suspicions of privileges for a person who formerly served in the office.”

According to the Center, A, an Air Force officer in the 10th Fighter Wing military police battalion, was sexually assaulted by Master Sergeant B, a subordinate on April 6. B who was older and more experienced than A, said that she needed to learn taekwondo if she was to serve long term and arranged a dinner appointment with a taekwondo specialist that evening.

During dinner, B touched A’s shoulders, back, and the inner side of her arm. Later in the parking lot, he said, “Your ears are small,” and also touched A’s ear. B also sent text messages harassing A. The next day, April 7, B told A that he would give her a massage and asked her to come to his house. When A refused, B texted, “I thought you were naïve but the way you respond, you’re a complete fox.”

On April 9, A reported the assault to Lieutenant Colonel C, the commander of the military police battalion. But C tried to silence the report arguing, “It could leave a scarlet letter making you (A) look like you lacked capacity as a leader,” and that B could make a counterclaim. A believed C gave such advice because he was concerned about her and waited until the next day to report the incident.

However, the Center argued that C failed to properly conduct an investigation. Worried that A would report her incident to the special sexual violence investigation team in the Ministry of National Defense set up after the death of Sergeant Lee Ye-ram, C tried to transfer B to another department for “insulting a superior officer” and stopped the victim from making a statement. According to the Center, when it was determined that B would remain in his position on July 8, C called A and asked, “Don’t you want to stay in the military for a long time?” and said, “There is nothing you can gain from a transfer.”

A filed a suit against B and C at the Air Force Headquarters General Prosecution Division. During the investigation, B admitted that he had touched the victim’s shoulders, back and ear. However, the military prosecutors said, “Even if the accusation is recognized, it is hard to say that he had any sexual intention,” and dropped the charges. They also dropped the charges against C due to insufficient evidence.

The Center explained, “The assailant of indecent assault, B was representated by a lawyer who was discharged in 2014 after working in the Air Force Headquarters legal office,” and argued, “It appears the investigation lenient toward the offender and efforts to protect one’s own, which are measures prevalent in the Air Force military police, and the regular privileges granted to former staff in the Air Force legal office and the leniency toward perpetrators have firmly settled as an organizational culture.”

The Center further argued, “The defense ministry must accept the victim’s appeal on the decision not to press charges and prosecute the offenders and proceed with the case,” and called for an inspection to check how far up in the Air Force legal office the decision to drop charges was reported and who gave the final approval and demanded strict punishment for related personnel.