By Jun Ji-hye
The number of soldiers and officers caught using drugs or being in possession of them has increased steadily in recent years, an opposition lawmaker said Wednesday.
According to Rep. Kim Kwang-jin of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), a total of 45 soldiers and military officers have been punished for drug-related offenses since 2010.
Among them, 32 belonged to the Army and eight belonged to the Air Force.
In 2014, the number of soldiers punished rapidly increased to 17 from four in 2013.
The Ministry of National Defense submitted the data to the lawmaker ahead of a National Assembly audit.
The drugs in question included 12 incidents of taking GHB (Gamma Hydroxide Butyrolactone). GHB produces an aphrodisiac effect when taken with alcohol, and is referred to as a date rape drug.
Eleven cases involved marijuana.
Rep. Kim said the use of new types of drugs such as AM-2201, a synthetic cannabinoid, is also increasing.
“The military will not be trusted if the number of drug users consistently increases in units where military discipline should be strictly maintained,” Kim said. “In particular, a drug used in sexual crimes accounted for a considerable number of the cases. The military should pay full attention to crackdown of the drugs.”
A ministry official said it is sometimes difficult to detect soldiers who abuse drugs because they employ crafty strategies to smuggle them into their barracks.
“The ministry will impose more severe punishment to prevent drug-taking,” he said.
At the end of 2014, the military court fined three personnel serving in the Army, Navy and Air Force, respectively, 2 million won ($1,700) to 3 million won for smoking marijuana in their barracks.
For their part, each military unit imposed separate punishments, ordering them to be confined for 10 to 15 days, according to the ministry.
The drug supplier was a 23-year-old civilian, identified only by his surname Jin, who was a friend with the three soldiers from their school years together in the United States.
Jin sent marijuana to the three soldiers’ barracks through the mail by hiding it in a carton of biscuits. They exploited the convention that officers usually do not check the contents when they open and check parcels that enlisted soldiers receive, said the ministry.
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