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| Kang Sun-young, the country's first female major general, salutes during a ceremony appointing her as the commander of the Aviation Operations Command (AOC) at the AOC in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, Nov. 21. Yonhap |
By Kim Hyun-bin
The Republic of Korea Army has promoted Kang Sun-young as the country's first female two-star general and assigned her to head the Aviation Operations Command (AOC).
Kang, 53, became the first female commander of the AOC in the 20 years of its establishment, which operates 34 Apache helicopters as well as scores of Cobra and 500MD helicopters.
She is an expert in the army aviation field, previously serving as the commander of the 60th Aviation Group, 11th Aviation Group and chief of staff at the AOC.
"The AOC is a core military strength in securing victory for our ground forces," the major general said in her inaugural speech on Nov. 21. "I promise to do my utmost to make our Army aviation and AOC to become more devoted, competent and professional."
She was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1990, when there were only 99 female officers, excluding nursing officers. Now there are over 10,000 female officers.
"At that time everything from the conditions to the system was disadvantageous to women and there weren't many chances for them to be assigned to key posts. But times have changed and I now head the AOC, which opens more opportunities for female subordinates," she said.
"Nowadays, there are much more opportunities for female officers to land key posts. It does not matter whether you are male or female; the opportunity presents itself depending on individual capabilities."
The commander believes the most important trait of a leader is to set examples by helping and getting one's hands dirty alongside subordinates.
"By doing so, subordinate troops will realize that the leader is voluntarily aiding them to accomplish a common goal, and once they realize that, they start to follow your lead. If you try to get special treatment just because you are a female soldier or the commander, no one will follow you," Kang said.
Kang is a pioneer and a role model especially for female officers, but becoming the first in any field comes with great responsibility, she said.
"Becoming the first could mean opening up opportunities, but also when you are the first, there aren't any examples or people to learn from. Often my results become the standard of female officers," the commander said. "If I fail in some aspects, it is not just a failure for me, but will impact all future female officers and could limit their capabilities, so I tried my best to overcome all challenges."
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