Defense minister tackles abuse of conscripts

By Jun Ji-hye

Defense Minister Song Young-moo convened an emergency meeting of top commanders, Monday, to address concerns about human rights violations involving conscripts.

The wife of Gen. Park Chan-ju, the commander of the Army’s 2nd Operations Command, speaks to reporters before entering the military prosecutors’ office near the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul, Monday. The wife, identified only by her surname Jeon, is under investigation over allegations that she and her husband exploited soldiers assigned to serve at the commander’s official residence. / Joint press corps

The meeting was held amid a public uproar over the allegations that Gen. Park Chan-ju, the commander of the Army’s 2nd Operations Command, and his wife had long exploited and disrespected soldiers assigned to serve at his official residence.

“Song ordered military leaders to study the real state of soldiers assigned to noncombat missions including those tasked with maintaining convenience and welfare facilities as well as those assigned to the official residences of commanders,” the Ministry of National Defense said in a release.

The participants in the meeting included Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Lee Sun-jin, South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Korea deputy commander Gen. Leem Ho-young, and commanding generals of the Army and Air Force and the commanding admiral of the Navy.

“Unless conscripts’ human rights are protected, the people will not trust our military,” Song said, according to the ministry.

The ministry added that the participants shared the need to eradicate practices in which commanders issue unreasonable orders to soldiers for personal reasons.

President Moon Jae-in also expressed his regret over Gen. Park and his wife’s alleged violation of the human rights of soldiers, calling on the military to take this latest case as an opportunity to root out such practices.

“The ministry’s ongoing inspection is just the beginning of resolving the problem,” Moon said during his meeting with secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae.

Moon stressed the ministry should not adopt stopgap measures just to remove the present controversy, calling for comprehensive improvement of the system.

The President also ordered his aides to check whether unreasonable practices occur at other ministries and government agencies within and outside the country, citing one allegation that high-ranking police officers use police conscripts as their drivers.

The Center for Military Human Rights Korea made public the allegation, based on tips from those involved, that four-star Gen. Park and his wife have treated several soldiers as slaves.

The soldiers were not only forced to do the laundry, ironing, gardening and cleaning the bathrooms, but also ordered by the general’s wife to draw the blinds in the bedroom, or pick up trash such as toenails and dead skin cells from the sofa and living room floor, according to the center.

Military prosecutors, who are currently looking into the case, called in Park’s wife, identified only by her surname Jeon, for questioning earlier Monday.

“I treated them as if they were my sons, but I am sorry to the soldiers and their families if I hurt them,” she told reporters, appearing at the military prosecutors’ office in Seoul.

The ministry said Jeon was being questioned, not prosecuted, as she is a civilian.

Her husband, General Park, is scheduled to be summoned Tuesday for questioning.