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| The parents of Lee Yae-ram grieve at a public funeral altar set up for Lee in front of the Ministry of National Defense's headquarters in Seoul's Yongsan District, Oct. 20, 2021. Lee is shown in pictures held by her mother and hanging around her father's neck. Newsis |
Politicians agree on independent counsel for military sexual harassment case
By Ko Dong-hwan
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) agreed Monday to launch an independent counsel to investigate the death of a female Air Force officer who killed herself after reporting sexual assault last year.
The bipartisan decision by the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee came after DPK floor leader Rep. Bak Hong-geun and PPP head Rep. Kim Ki-hyun reached an agreement on April 3. An independent counsel had been requested previously in the National Assembly by the DPK, PPP, Justice Party, People's Party and Basic Income Party.
However, the agreement comes almost a year after Lee Yae-ram, a sergeant first class serving in the Republic of Korea Air Force, killed herself in May 2021. She was in extreme psychological distress after having reported being sexual assaulted by a fellow officer. But there was more to the case than the original offense alone.
Lee's case of sexual assault was worsened by the military's inadequate response. What reportedly drove Lee to commit suicide was systematic collusion within the military, which was more eager to cover up the incident than actually address the case, by properly investigating and disciplining the perpetrator.
It all started with a dinner party in March 2021 joined by members of the Air Force's 20th Fighter Wing, including Lee, 24, and several other officers. Following the party, a fellow sergeant first class non-commissioned officer who had joined the party ― identified by his surname of Jang ― sexually assaulted her as they were in a car heading to the division's base in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province.
Lee kept resisting and exited the vehicle before it reached her dormitory inside the base. She then called a fellow officer she trusted and told him what had happened. Then, Jang, concerned that she might divulge what he had done to her, blackmailed her not to report the case to the authorities. Afraid that he wouldn't leave her alone unless he was assured she would keep his actions secret, she promised to do so.
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| President Moon Jae-in, right, meets the parents of Lee Yae-ram in front of Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul's Jung District, Nov. 25, 2021. The parents were holding a protest demanding to meet with President Moon regarding their lost daughter. Joint Press Corps. |
Secondary victimization
The incident was reported to the division's superior officers, who met both Jang and Lee the day after to confirm the incident had occurred. But the superior officers, instead of punishing Jang, explained why they would not report the incident to the military police: the police and higher Air Force officers would find out about the dinner party that had broken the country's social distancing regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic and question everyone involved. They also tried to persuade Lee that what she had gone through had been "a negligible thing one could come across and let go of."
Lee, who had hoped her superiors would advocate for her, felt betrayed by them. Their lax response to her case victimized her a second time, compounding the initial trauma of the assault.
Her family learned about the incident too, and eventually, the division's warrant officer could no longer delay reporting Jang to the military police.
But the police decided to investigate Jang without detaining him ― which remains yet another morally and legally questionable part about the way the case was handled. Observers ask why Jang as the perpetrator wasn't arrested despite video evidence recorded in the vehicle during the incident. During the investigation, the division's officers even contacted Lee's fiance, another officer from the 20th Fighter Wing, asking him to persuade her to forgive Jang.
Learning about all of these attempts to neglect her case, Lee sank even deeper into despair. Meanwhile, Jang sought out his fellow officers and asked for letters of support requesting that the military police drop the charges against him.
Seventy days after the incident, Lee was transferred to the 15th Fighters Wing stationed at Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. There, she hoped to start a new life. But she soon realized that some of the division's members were already aware of what had happened to her and the reason she had been transferred. Ashamed of her past, she felt that she herself was viewed by a criminal by her new fellow officers.
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| Republic of Korea Air Force Chief of Staff Park In-ho answers a question during the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit for a general military court last Oct. 19 regarding the death of Air Force Sergeant First Class Lee Yae-ram. Korea Times |
On May 22, Lee's fiance found her dead in her dorm room.
The military continued its efforts to cover up the case even after her death. The Air Force, in a report to the Ministry of National Defense, omitted the fact that Lee had reported the sexual assault.
Meanwhile, the military revved up its investigation of Jang in June 2021, sending him to a general military court for an arrest warrant hearing.
Why Jang wasn't arrested in the first place ― which could have prevented Lee's suicide ― implicates the entire military as an organization, as it should have ordered it but instead worked to ignore and cover up the fact that the crime had even happened. Documents leaked from within the Air Force show that the military police were told not to arrest Jang and instead wait for the case to cool down. (Legal experts were cited saying that in a legal dispute involving sexual harassment or assault charges, a victim's complaint could supposedly change in a single day.)
The person at the top of the hierarchy investigating Lee's case and having the mandate to make executive decisions was the chief of the legal office at the Air Force's headquarters, identified in reports by his surname of Chun. Chun ignored the concerns of Lee's parents who wanted justice for their daughter through the punishment of Jang and the other Air Force officers who tried to cover up the incident.
Military Human Rights Korea, a civic activist group, publicly alleged last November that Chun had ordered Jang not to be arrested, citing leaked audio recordings from the military. The recordings contained conversations mentioning that the decision had been made in light of the interests of Chun's acquaintances ― including Jang ― instead of following the law. Lee's parents also raised questions about the suspicious relationship between Chun and Jang.
While Chun was in charge of the legal office, investigators questioned 36 officers from both the 15th and 20th Fighter Wings, the Air Force headquarters' legal office and the military police, but only a few were eventually indicted.
