Thoughts on the military rape debate

By Mathias Specht

A recent story that has moved me probably just as much as numerous Korean netizens, but was hardly covered in the non-Korean press, concerns the repeated sexual assault of a 22-year-old Korean conscript by a higher-ranked army officer.

Suffering from severe mental distress following the attacks, the young man has since made two unsuccessful attempts at taking his own life (the second time trying to kill his perpetrator in the process).

While the officer in question has since been dismissed from the military, tried and sentenced to two years in prison.

The uncomfortable reality of male rape (whether occurring in the army or among civilians) is currently not reflected by Korean law. In fact, not even forced penetrative intercourse between men is presently handled as rape, but rather as a form of assault. Considering the special nature of these crimes, being not only severely physically damaging (or even potentially lethal in case of sexually transmitted diseases) but also particularly destructive psychologically, this seems nothing short of shocking.

Extrapolation of this ``legal loophole” has stirred a lively Internet debate over, and eventual discovery that, even transgender men who have undergone complete sexual reassignment surgery, are not appropriately protected by the current law in case they become victims of rape.

There are mainly three points I would like to see enter the public debate that surround it.

Firstly, does the National Security Law provide an excessive amount of protection for the Korean army, effectively sheltering it from being held accountable for the wrongdoings of its staff members as well as those occurring between soldiers while serving their mandatory duty?

Secondly, what amendments to the Korean criminal law are required to adequately account for the fact that male rape is a reality in Korea (just as anywhere else) and a sufficiently prevalent one at that, which calls for a proportionately severe punishment?

And lastly, how can the conversational taboo surrounding rape and other forms of sexual harassment be circumvented so that victims receive the much needed support and their basic human rights are not compromised in efforts to save face or avoid embarrassment?

Beyond these, it seems noteworthy that some recent statistics indicate that same-sex sexual violence in the Korean army might be a lot more widespread than so far publicized, let alone openly talked about.

A study published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, for instance, finds that about 15 percent of 250,000 conscripts each year experiences sexual violence as either victims or perpetrators. Regardless of exactly how precise this figure may be, it seems prudent to conclude that it at least warrants much deeper investigation into the issue.

Particularly alarming is that the study seems to hint at an entire cycle of perpetuated sexual violence, since according to its findings ``81.7 percent of perpetrators had themselves been [previously] victimized.”

The writer is an MBA graduate of Yonsei University and founder of the Korean company Stelence International. He is currently writing a book about Korea and can be reached at mathias@stelence.com.