By Lee Hyo-sik
The Seoul Administrative Court Thursday ruled against an army lieutenant-colonel who filed a lawsuit against the Minister of National Defense after he was dismissed for playing “go-stop,” a popular Korean card game similar to poker, inside the barracks.
The court said even though the amount of money at stake was not large enough to be speculative, the 52-year old army officer, identified only by his surname Min, gambled with his junior officers on several occasions. “He failed to be a role model for junior soldiers. We see that the army did not overstep its disciplinary authority in dismissing Min.”
It also said he coerced junior officers who gambled with him to lie that they never played the game inside the barracks after the army launched an investigation into the case. “He was also engaged in other activities to conceal the incident. We think if he is allowed to continue to serve in the military, it will tarnish the dignity of the nation’s armed forces and negatively affect its organizational culture.”
While serving as a battalion leader, Min and junior officers were caught playing the game. He was immediately suspended from his duties for one month.
They set one point at 100 won. Usually, if a player acquires over three points, he or she wins the game.
But the committee at the army headquarters later decided to kick Min out of the army, saying he was not fit to be an officer because he gambled with junior officers on duty. Following the committee decision, the defense ministry ordered him to be discharged in July 2009.
Min filed a lawsuit with the court, insisting he played the go-stop game for fun and the dismissal was too harsh for such behavior.