SEXUAL ASSAULT CASE WITHIN AIR FORCE

[Anchor Lead]

Another sexual crime has been committed in the Air Force. It happened in the unit where late Sergeant Lee Ye-ram was sexually assaulted for the second time after being transferred from her previous unit. The latest victim is also a female non-commissioned officer who says she had been harassed for four months by her male supervisor.

[Pkg]

Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do Province is where the presidential aircraft Air Force 1 lands and takes off. A female staff sergeant from the 15th Special Mission Wing of the Air Force, which oversees the airport, says she has been sexually abused in the unit since January. The perpetrator is her male supervisor of the sub-officer rank. He reportedly told her that he loves her, that he doesn't want her to go home, and that he'd like her to break up with her boyfriend. Despite the victim's refusal, he would often raise her shirt to perform cupping therapy, and touched her under the pretext of giving her a massage.

[Soundbite] Kim Suk-kyung(Military Human Rights Korea) : "After dining with colleagues, the perpetrator made his successor leave the room and took the victim there. He then asked her to hug him."

When a COVID-19 case occurred in the unit, the perpetrator allegedly forced the staff sergeant to come into contact with the infected to contract the virus together. The victim reported the case and the perpetrator was arrested and indicted in May.

[Soundbite] Park Suk-ran(Victim's attorney) : "When the victim refused to follow the perpetrator's demands and requests, she was ill-treated and excluded from duties."

The Air Force has apologized to the public for yet another sexual abuse case. It added the victim has been separated from the perpetrator in line with protocol.