A soldier in his 20s who sexually insulted his female superior was found not guilty... “The witness’s statement is unreliable.”

A soldier in his 20s who was put on trial for insulting a female superior in the presence of junior soldiers was found not guilty. The soldier was brought to trial based on a witness's statement that he had insulted his superior, but the court ruled that the witness's statement was overturned and contradictory and therefore unreliable.

According to the legal community on the 17th, the Suwon District Court recently acquitted Mr. A, in his 20s, who was indicted on charges of insulting his superior.

In October 2023, while serving as a Marine Corps soldier, Mr. A was indicted on charges of saying, “I want to drink with Mr. B and have (sexual relations)” while talking to two junior soldiers in a smoking area on base. Mr. B was a female sergeant who was Mr. A's superior.

During an inspection investigation within the unit, Mr. A claimed, “Because it was a period of guerrilla training at the time, I was not on the unit, so I could not go to the smoking area, and I did not make any sexual remarks in relation to Mr. B.” However, Mr. A's claim was not accepted, and the charges were acknowledged based on the statements of witnesses and he was sent to trial.

Even at trial, Mr. A consistently maintained his claim, saying, “I was not in the unit because of guerrilla training, and I had a good relationship with Sergeant B, so there was no reason to insult him.” Mr. A's lawyer argued to the effect that, "If you look at the circumstances of the report, witnesses who did not have a good feeling towards Mr. A falsely reported that he had insulted his superior."

The court ruled in Mr. A’s favor. Although Mr. A's claims were consistent, the witnesses overturned their statements about when the incident occurred, and their statements regarding the circumstances of the report were also inconsistent. Based on this, the witness' statement was deemed unreliable and difficult to believe, and he was declared not guilty.

Attorney Park Yong-heul of Daeryun Law Firm, Mr. A's legal representative, said, "Some of the witnesses had a bad relationship with Mr. A, so they decided to report him in order to have him transferred to another unit. In this case, the only evidence to prove the indictment was the witness's statement, and we were able to get an acquittal by proving that the statement was not credible."

Reporter Jeong Cheol-wook

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A 20-year-old soldier found not guilty of sexually insulting a female superior... “The witness’s statement is unreliable” (Shortcut)