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On-duty Navy NCOs have sex on battleship

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The ATS 31, a battleship of the Republic of Korea Navy. /Courtesy of Flickr

By Park Jae-hyuk

Two Korean Navy noncommissioned officers (NCO) had sex while on duty on an ATS 31 battleship in April, the Ministry of National Defense said Thursday.

The Republic of Korea Navy revealed the case after an investigation of the unit this month.

A Navy official said the man and woman had intercourse in an obscure compartment to avoid other sailors. The NCOs were on duty together that day.

The Navy cut their salaries for tarnishing the military’s dignity and reprimanded the ship’s captain.

The NCOs’ act came as North Korea was preparing nuclear missile tests in April and the South Korean military was on emergency standby.

The latest finding has disgraced ATS 31 again, as the battleship has been considered a symbol of corruption among Korean defense industry. In 2009, a former Navy Admiral made a corrupted bid upon purchasing outdated equipments for the ship including a sonar radar system.