Row arises over not guilty verdict for 2 naval officers for raping female subordinate

Armed Forces High Court is shown in this picture. / Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han

By Kim Jae-heun

The Armed Forces High Court overturned, Nov. 8, a lower court ruling that had found two naval officers guilty of raping a female subordinate, causing a backlash from women's rights groups.

One of the two men, a lieutenant commander, raped the female captain several times when she was a junior lieutenant in September 2010. He abused his power by threatening to disclose the fact that she was a lesbian.

The woman became pregnant and opted to get an abortion before returning to duty.

The second man who raped her was the commanding officer of the ship she was assigned to, and he committed the crime after she told him about the earlier rapes and her abortion.

The two were arrested and a lower court sentenced them to 10 years and eight years imprisonment, respectively.

However, the high court reversed this decision even though it acknowledged that sexual relations took place and the offenders were in a superior position. It said there was no “concrete evidence” to prove they forced the woman to have intercourse or blackmailed her during the process.

The Center for Military Human Rights Korea (CMHRK) and the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center protested the decision in front of the court building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Tuesday.

“Many victims are unable to resist. But the court said the offenders were not guilty because the victim did not resist enough,” they said.

The CMHRK said the military court had become a shield for criminals and protected them while overriding the dignity of the victims.

“To eradicate sexual violence in the military, we have to abolish the military court that continues to indulge sex offenders,” a CMHRK official said.