There is plenty of reason for the criticism that the military is "watching after its own, using punishment by a whip made of cotton" when the army has decided to punish the corps and division commanders in charge of the area along the DMZ where the shooting spree recently took place to three months of reduced pay. That is just too weak a way of holding people responsible when what occurred was a major incident that took eight precious lives. It begs serious questions about fairness when the staff sergeant responsible for the guard post where it occurred has been arrested, because that essentially means the powerless lower-ranking guy gets all the responsibility piled on him while the "stars" get a little less in pay for a while.
The army explains that one of the things it considered was that the generals would essentially be forced to retire if given heavy penalties. Granted, the army should not just automatically hand down heavy punishments to the commanders. The problem, however, is that all the consideration and understanding is applied only to those in high rank. You have to ask why officials did not "consider" the difficulties faced by the lowest-level platoons that are unable to avoid taking procedural shortcuts or the limits on the authority and responsibilities given noncommissioned officers who are given commands by commissioned officers.
Currently there is much waiting to be done in the way of historical improvements in the atmosphere in the Korean military's barracks. That will require unity and the promotion of morale, as well as the establishment of a strict chain of command. The punishments handed out by the army in this case actually make the cynicism, distrust, and discord more serious. The atmosphere is inevitably going to be unstable at the lowest ranks when the powerless are strictly punished and you get off easier the better rank you have. There are indeed reports of signs of conflict between commissioned and noncommissioned officers over this army decision. The development of a strong military is just going to be an empty dream as long as there are commanders obsessed with their positions as they avoid responsibility and defense ministry's leadership protects them.
The Hankyoreh, 15 July 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Unfair Penalties in Army Shooting Case |
