[Editorial] What's With Our Military?

The military is supposed to protect the people and the country's territory, but recent events have led to a role reversal where the people instead have to worry about the military. On Sunday an army private went into his barracks shooting and throwing grenades, killing or injuring ten soldiers. At another installation a soldier took his life by committing self-immolation. It would be hard to express the sadness felt by families who have suffered loss, but many throughout the country who have friends and relatives in the military are also hurting.

This latest incident originated in harsh treatment. The soldier who perpetrated this tragedy had long suffered verbal abuse from his fellow conscripts. It appears that it was so awful it went beyond regular verbal violence. When men in army boot camp were made to eat human feces last January, the National Defense Minister ordered all installations to eradicate all violence and abuse. Five months later and look what happens. The measures taken were nothing more than empty slogans.

The military is a unique organization that needs to be hierarchical. That means it is easy to have higher-ranking individuals abuse their subordinates, and it is easy to have that covered up. The military has worked to eradicate violence, and it has indeed made a considerable degree of progress. However, violence is not limited to the use of physical strength. The country's military leadership needs to ask itself if perhaps it is out of step with the times as far as its understanding of acts of abuse is concerned.

Discipline has been at distressingly low levels recently. Last October it was discovered that someone had cut his way through the fences along the DMZ to go to the North, and only a few days ago someone found a North Korean soldier had come across the same area of the DMZ and had already been in the South for five days. When the same problems occur it is because there is something seriously wrong with organizational command between the leadership and individual units. We hope it is realized that if there is not thorough self-reflection, improvements in the military's make-up, and painful implementation the whole of the military could be faced with a crisis.

The Hankyoreh, 20 June 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]