By Kim Bo-eun
Army General Park Chan-ju offered to resign Tuesday over the allegation that his wife exploited soldiers in charge of the general’s household duties.
The move follows the Ministry of National Defense’s announcement that it would launch an investigation into the case after a civic group made the allegation public.
“I offered my resignation because I could not stand the remorse for causing trouble and by defaming the military that I have been a part of for 40 years,” Park of the Army’s 2nd Operations Command in Daegu said.
“I take full responsibility,” he said, adding he will cooperate completely with the ministry’s investigation.
The Center for Military Human Rights Korea made public the allegation, based on tips from those involved, in a press release.
The center claimed the wife of the four-star general exploited soldiers in charge of household duties and cooking, from March 2016 to early this year.
“The center filed a complaint with the ministry, and we will launch an inspection to confirm the allegations against the general,” ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said. “The ministry will take strict measures based on the results of the investigation.”
The probe will begin today.
The center said the soldiers were ordered to take care of private matters of the general’s family, in addition to their duties of managing the household and aiding the general.
The center said, “The soldiers were in charge not only of the laundry, ironing, taking care of the garden and cleaning the bathroom, but also ordered by the general’s wife to draw the blinds in the bedroom, or pick up trash such as pieces of toenails or dead skin cells from the sofa and living room floor.”
The soldiers were forced to be on duty from 6 a.m., when the general went to early morning prayers, to 10 p.m. when he went to bed, regardless of their official duty schedules.
The soldier in charge of cooking was ordered to stay on duty until late at night in order to make a snack for the general’s son when he got home.
The general’s wife reportedly used abusive language, telling the soldiers “You can’t do anything properly,” and at times threw fruit or wielded a kitchen knife at them.
Although such treatment continued for a year, the soldiers were unable to speak out.
This is because the general’s home did not have a telephone, and to use a phone soldiers would have needed to walk 20 to 30 minutes to the army unit, but they were banned from leaving the general’s home because it was their base of duty.
In addition, soldiers serving their duty there were banned from accessing the internet.
This follows an earlier case in 2015, when a driver posted online that he was ordered to take the son of the Air Force chief of staff to a club near Hongik University in western Seoul.
The general’s wife also allegedly made it difficult for the soldiers to take leave.
“The general’s family infringed on the rights of and exploited the soldiers in their home by treating them like slaves, and also prevented them from making outside contact,” the center said.
“It is only right to abolish the system of soldiers being put on duty in generals’ homes. Park must be stripped of his post and punished, and his wife must also face legal responsibility,” it said.