Court rules disciplinary action proper for army officer for sexually harassing subordinate

A local court has ruled it was appropriate for an army officer to be suspended of duty for sexually harassing a female subordinate. / Korea Times file

By Kim Rahn

A local court has ruled it was proper for the Army to take a disciplinary measure against an officer who sexually harassed a female subordinate after he decided her saying she “respected” meant she “liked” him.

The Chuncheon District Court recently dismissed the officer's request to nullify his one-month suspension from duty.

The officer, a married man, touched the hands of a female first lieutenant at a karaoke room in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, in the evening in July 2017.

About a week later, he touched her thigh and hands while talking with her in her car at a parking lot in Sokcho. As she resisted, he then put his arm around her shoulder, according to the court.

After being suspended from duty due to the incident, the officer filed an administrative lawsuit. He claimed the woman first expressed affection by saying she respected him, so he grabbed her hands at the karaoke as she implied consent. He insisted she gave false testimony about sexual harassment after she was given multiple warnings for her poor performance.

But the first lieutenant who had moved to the unit about a month before, claimed she was not close to him when he grabbed her hands.

“The defendant's claim that her saying 'I respect you' was an expression of affection and that they liked each other, is unacceptable” the court said. “The Army suspended him for only one month because the victim said she did not want him punished if he offered a sincere apology. So the disciplinary action was proper.”