Army chief apologizes over sexual abuse case

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Kim Yo-hwan made an official apology over a recent sexual abuse case involving a division commander, reiterating that the Army would maintain a zero-tolerance policy on sex crimes.

During a parliamentary audit, Kim also pledged to strengthen education about sexual abuse and step up preventive efforts. Last week, a major general heading the 17th Infantry Division was arrested on charges of sexually harassing a female staff sergeant.

“We regard the (recent) sexual abuse case as a very serious incident, and will harshly punish anyone responsible for sexual abuses, regardless of their ranks,” he said during the audit at the Gyeryongdae military headquarters in South Chungcheong Province.

“I am deeply sorry for having frustrated citizens and caused them great concern.”

Amid growing criticism, the Army has initiated a “one-out” system under which anyone found to have committed sex crimes will be excluded from promotions and other benefits. It has also vowed to strengthen education among troops, including senior officers, and improve the counseling program for female soldiers.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jin Sung-joon of the main opposition party New Politics Alliance for Democracy said that nearly 80 percent of the Army officers who have been promoted to the rank of one-star general graduated from the Korea Military Academy.

Stressing fairness and transparency in the military promotion system, he and opposition lawmakers argued that officers from the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and other programs should be given more opportunities for promotion to general-level rank.

Also during the audit, Rep. Ahn Gyu-baek of the NPAD said that about 13 percent of new cadets at the Korea Military Academy drop out of the school each year. As of September this year, 21 percent of the KMA’s freshmen had already left the school.

Ahn stressed that the KMA should thoroughly check whether there are any problems with its cadet recruitment program and curriculum to prevent students from dropping out of the institution.

“Cadets at the KMA are the most valuable resources for our armed forces. Thus, the issue of dropouts is linked to the issue of staffing our armed forces,” Ahn said. “We should properly recruit students and educate them to train capable commissioned officers.”

Ahn also pointed out that KMA professors produced an average of less than one research paper per year, raising concerns about the quality of education received by KMA students. He also noted that 94 percent of the KMA faculty members were KMA alumni.

“There is a structural problem in the KMA given that most professors graduated from the KMA, and that they are allowed to continue to teach there until retirement age,” Ahn said. “The KMA should recruit professors from outside and be able to better educate cadets.”

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)