A Defense Ministry spokesperson is debriefing reporters about the 'Gapjil' scandal on Friday. [Yonahp Photo]
A four-star field army commander will be put under a criminal investigation by military prosecutors over allegations he and his wife had abused authority to treat house-keeping soldiers like slaves at their official residence, the defense ministry said.
The wife of Park Chan-ju, chief of the 2nd Operations Command, will be investigated by military prosecutors as a witness, the ministry said in a statement that followed a field survey of ten people including Park, his wife and soldiers.
Park has applied for discharge to take responsibility, it was not accepted pending an investigation. The scandal prompted Defense Minister Song Young-moo to order a full probe into the status of about 100 soldiers manning the residential compounds of top army commanders.
Despite denials, inspectors found a "considerable" part of allegations such as collecting golf balls and tending a kitchen garden were true, the ministry said, adding a further probe should be done into conflicting testimonies.
A soldier was ordered to wear an electronic bracelet for quick calls inside the two-story official residence, but inspectors have yet to dig into claims that a soldier attempted suicide in 2015 due to stress and others were sent to frontline guard posts for punishment.
The scandal aroused public anger after the Military Human Rights Center for Korea that Park and his wife had been engaged in habitual "Gapjil" which means an abuse of power such as mistreatment, arrogant behavior, crude talk, character assassination, and insults.
Gapjil has become an important social issue since President Moon Jae-in promised to eradicate it as part of his push for social and economic justice.
The watchdog insisted that an unspecified number of soldiers had been treated unfairly at Park's residence while being mobilized for laundry, ironing, housekeeping, toilet cleaning, and other private affairs. Especially, the wife was accused of treating them like slaves.
All able-bodied South Korean men aged 18-35 are required to serve in the military for about two years because the Korean peninsula is still technically at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice with no peace treaty signed between the two Koreas.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
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