Harassment in the Army

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With the spread of the #Me Too movement throughout Korean society, the military has set up a task force on sexual crimes. It has been revealed that an Army official on the task force made very inappropriate remarks in the past that call her assignment into question. Here’s more.

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A session of sexual assault prevention education was held at the Third Army Corps on January tenth, 2017. Roughly 30 female soldiers and civilian workers attended the session. The lecturer was a female lieutenant colonel surnamed Kim who was from the Army Headquarters. It was an occasion to introduce the military's policies to prevent sexual assault. However, it was insubstantial and perfunctory. Kim instructed female soldiers to themselves search and find related policies online, adding that everything is on the military's Web site. More serious problems were revealed in a meeting, which was held after the lecture. A participant said that the lieutenant colonel had made shocking remarks at the meeting, which was attended only by junior officers.

[Soundbite] Attending Female Soldier : "It seems that sexual assault victims first provided causes. It is right for you to be careful and prevent it yourself. Return home early. Don't go to bars and become targets. Don't wear clothes that reveal hip shapes."

Instead of encouraging reports of sexual crimes, the lieutenant colonel told the participants to make a distinction between what to report and what not to report.

[Soundbite] Attending Female Soldier : "It is O.K. to report if he kneads your arm like this. Don't report if he just rubs your arm. That is why female soldiers are left out."

Kim is an Army representative to a military special task force against sexual crimes, which was launched amid the ongoing Me Too movement.

[Soundbite] Attending Female Soldier : "She was supposed to understand and help victims who asked for help. On the contrary, she blamed victims with no empathy and made remarks that could be interpreted as secondary assault."

After KBS began covering the case, the Defense Ministry said that it decided to exclude the lieutenant colonel from all jobs related to gender equality and the anti-sexual crime task force.