A South Korean court has upheld a two-month suspension for an army officer who repeatedly left his post without permission, delayed the approval of soldiers' leave requests, and used abusive language.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Busan District Court's Administrative Division 1-3, led by Judge Heo Jun-seo, dismissed the officer's lawsuit seeking to overturn the suspension on October 15.
The officer, identified as A, was commissioned in 2014 and served as the head of a brigade headquarters company. Following an internal investigation, he was suspended for two months due to violations of duty, including unauthorized absences and failure to maintain decorum.
Between October 2023 and November 2024, A delayed the approval of 698 leave requests from 26 soldiers in his company. As a result, the soldiers were unable to obtain train tickets for their vacations, forcing them to cover transportation costs out of pocket.
When soldiers requested leave, A reportedly responded with insults, saying, "Is this a community center? Get lost," and told a soldier who requested a transfer due to back pain, "You can't be discharged just because you're in pain. Get a mental illness diagnosis instead."
Additionally, he required soldiers to clean their weapons during weekends and personal maintenance time for ten days due to inadequate weapon care, and he failed to ensure shooting training on the day of the exercise, hindering their promotions.
A's unauthorized absences were frequent, as he left the base 64 times during work hours over ten months without submitting leave requests or notifying his superiors. The court recognized these actions as unauthorized departures.
The guard commander testified that A often left the base for reasons such as needing to feed a lizard or wash his car.
The court noted, "Given the severity of the officer's misconduct, he could have faced dismissal under military disciplinary regulations. The two-month suspension is significantly less severe than the potential for dismissal, which could have been warranted given the multiple violations."
It concluded that the disciplinary action serves the public interest by maintaining military discipline, order, and restoring public trust in the military, which outweighs the personal disadvantages faced by the officer.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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