South Korean Minister Demands Military Judicial Reform After Sergeant's Suicide

South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook on Thursday pressed for urgent reform in the military judicial system, after a mishandled case of sexual abuse in the Air Force led to the suicide of a female master sergeant, Yonhap news agency reported

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th June, 2021) South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook on Thursday pressed for urgent reform in the military judicial system, after a mishandled case of sexual abuse in the Air Force led to the suicide of a female master sergeant, Yonhap news agency reported.

According to reports, the minister, while apologizing for the death of the officer who killed herself in May after she suffered sexual and other abuse by her colleague of similar rank, appealed for the reform in the parliamentarian session.

The event ignited outrage after it was revealed to the public that the military tried to persuade the victim to settle with the perpetrator even though she called for help, implying an attempt to cover the case up, the media reported.

"In order to restore trust in the military's judiciary system, we need to reduce commanders' influence in the criminal procedures and carry out reform tasks as planned to guarantee independence and fairness in the investigation and trial process," the minister said, as quoted by the media.

In 2018 the defense ministry proposed to reform the military judiciary system; however, the bill is still pending at the parliament's legislation and judiciary committee.

According to the ministry, as cited in the report, the proposed reform measures entail transferring appeals cases to the Seoul High Court and appointing civilian legal experts as military judges to prevent commanders' influence in trials.