[Namgung Jin-woong = timeid@ajunews.com]
President Moon Jae-in called for the improvement of human rights at South Korean military camps saying an alleged abuse of authority by a four-star field army commander and his wife at their official residence has caused a public shock.
The president's request came a day after military prosecutors questioned Park Chan-ju, chief of the 2nd Operations Command, over allegations that he and his wife had abused authority to treat house-keeping soldiers like slaves.
Last week, investigators found that soldiers assigned to Park's compound were forced to collect golf balls, tend a kitchen garden and get insulted. 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.
Such violations have been customary in the past, Moon said in a presidential ceremony to promote six new top commanders of the three armed services. "There should be a complete change in this kind of practice," according to a presidential pool report.
"We must prove that our society will not tolerate it any longer," Moon said, adding many people got shocked because a top army commander and his family were involved in human rights violations.
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
