[Yonhap News Photo]
A four-star field army commander apologized for causing public concerns over allegations he and his wife had abused authority to treat house-keeping soldiers like slaves at their official residence.
The apology came when Park Chan-ju, chief of the 2nd Operations Command, arrived at an office of military prosecutors for a criminal investigation. "I'm so sorry and feel devastated for arousing too much public anxiety," he said.
Last week, investigators found that soldiers assigned to Park's residence were forced to collect golf balls and tend a kitchen garden. One soldier was ordered to wear an electronic bracelet for quick calls. 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.
Park has applied for discharge to take responsibility, it was not accepted pending an investigation.
The Military Human Rights Center for Korea insisted 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.
The watchdog claimed 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
