Navy NCO arrested for sexual harassment 2 days after victim's death

A truck carrying condolence flowers enters the Armed Forces Daejeon Hospital, where the memorial altar of an alleged Navy sexual harassment victim was set up Aug. 14. Yonhap

A Navy court on Saturday issued an arrest warrant for a senior chief petty officer suspected of having sexually harassed a female subordinate who was found dead in an apparent suicide earlier this week.

The issuance of the arrest warrant for the officer, whose identity was withheld, came after a pre-trial detention hearing held at the Navy's general military court in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul. The suspect was immediately imprisoned at a detention facility of the Navy 2nd Fleet.

The victim, known only to be a female chief petty officer, was found dead at her residence in Pyeongtaek, Thursday, after reporting days earlier that she had suffered sexual harassment from the suspect in May.

According to officials, the alleged harassment took place May 27 while the victim and the suspect were having lunch together near their base on an island off the western city of Incheon. The victim promptly reported the case to an immediate superior before filing a formal request for investigation two months later, Aug. 9.

They said investigators from the Ministry of National Defense and the Navy will conduct a thorough investigation into the case and question the suspect. Investigators are also looking into the possibility of secondary damage to the victim, as the formal reporting came two months afterward, they said.

Regarding this, an opposition lawmaker, disclosed mobile text messages exchanged between the victim and her family, alleging that she appeared to have been bullied, isolated and excluded from work while remaining unseparated from the suspect at the same unit.

The incident has taken place as the military is striving to stamp out sex crimes in barracks following the death of an Air Force noncommissioned officer in May, three months after she was sexually abused by a colleague.

Despite top commanders' apologies and pledges for reform, the Navy incident again raises doubts over whether the military is capable of such an overhaul. President Moon Jae-in expressed "fury" after receiving a report on the latest case and ordered a thorough investigation.

Meanwhile, the Navy said its screening committee has decided to recognize the victim's death as a death in the line of duty and she will be buried at the Daejeon National Cemetery in the central city of Daejeon after a funeral service, Sunday.

A memorial altar for the victim was set up at the Armed Forces Daejeon Hospital but only her family and relatives and military personnel were allowed to offer their condolences. (Yonhap)