General arrested for sexually assauling female sergeant

Arrest warrant was requested on Thursday on indecent assault charges of an incumbent division commander surnamed S (major-general), who is suspected of having sexually assaulted a female staff sergeant at his office. Even though it was just a month ago when the first army commander Shin Hyun-don resigned due to disorderly behavior under the influence, a similar case occurred again. Defense Minister Han Min-koo convened an emergency video conference on Friday with commanders in the whole army forces. “A recent series of cases attributable to slack military discipline are an act benefitting the enemy, which ultimately undermine the national security,” the minister said. But his reproof sounds empty.

Commander-in-chief President Park Geun-hye led the emergency meeting with military commanders on Aug. 13 and ordered to eradicate deep-rooted inhumane practices in the military forces. The division commander S had sexually assaulted the victim five times at his office until September. It is even more despicable as it was a venue where the division commander was supposed to encourage and comfort the female staff sergeant, who was sexually assaulted previously by another superior officer. This case practically shows that orders of President and Minister of National Defense didn’t take effect even to a high-level military official.

Regarding serious slackness of discipline among military generals, a senior who served as defense minister pointed out, “It is related to the fact that outside influence works on the military personnel matters.” As the military is a hierarchical society, personnel matters must be fair more than any other organizations. That’s how we build strong military forces by putting people of ability at leadership positions. However, since the presidential office or political circles started intervening the military personnel affairs, military generals have to pay more attention to ‘getting in line,’ rather than leading the troops well.

In recent military reshuffle, six were changed from the general promotion list submitted by the Ministry of National Defense. Against such backdrops, the insiders are saying, “High-level officers in the military became a bodyguard of the administration. The military forces have been tamed to a flightless chicken.” Another factor, which led to lax discipline in the military, is that the military no longer give strict punishment on wrongdoings such as failures of operation or defense, or discipline accident. Military judicial system must be reformed from the perspective of tightening disciplines, including the commander-controlled military justice system, which allowed weak punishment on military discipline accident.

While seeing a recent series of accidents, it is highly doubtful as to whether the military can fulfill its role as a fort of national defense to protect lives and safety of the public. The military is an organization that lives and dies for command. The commander must take the initiative and set an example to make the command effective. Discipline must not be lax since undisciplined military cannot become a strong one. Starting from the president, commander-in-chief, must feel responsible for the issue and encourage setting out fundamental reform plan to tighten the military discipline.