Sexual assault involving army cadets threatens military academy`s discipline

A male cadet raped a female cadet who was drunk at the Korea Military Academy, where elite servicemen are nurtured. It is deplorable that such a dishonorable incident happened in a dorm room of the military academy, the highest military training institute nurturing high-ranking officers.

No rape incidents had been reported since the academy began to accept women in 1998. The incident would not have happened if the army academy had maintained the high level of morale and discipline of the cadets. In the wake of the shameful incident, the military academy should tighten discipline among the cadets.

The sexual assault was happened at 2 p.m. Wednesday last week during the cadets’ festival period. A professor made a cocktail drink by mixing soju and beer and had students drink it during lunch on campus. The professor should bear the biggest responsibility for neglecting a female student until she became helplessly drunk and vomited. If the female student was forced to drink, the problem becomes more serious. Each person has different capacity to break down alcohol, and women cannot drink as well as men. This is why it needs to be verified whether the students were forced to drink the cocktail drink.

It is unthinkable that a senior male cadet carried a female student who was heavily influenced by alcohol and thus unable to refuse him into his dorm room, locked the door and raped her. Cadets of the military academy have described themselves as those who live for honor and die for honor, but this incident raised a question whether the students’ sexual ethics is even lower than gangsters on the street. This rape incident undoubtedly left an indelible blemish on the 67 years of history of the academy. The army must thoroughly investigate how they went on the racket in the middle of the day and how the rape happened, and punish heavily those involved.

In particular, the victim should not be further damaged in the aftermath of the rape. The military academy should protect the privacy of the victim and help her get over the tragic incident by providing her with psychotherapy. This incident should not be an obstacle that prevents her from developing her career as a high-ranking servicewoman. The army should pay extra attention to protect the victim’s personal information from being disclosed by netizens.

Since the military academy opened its door to women in 1998, women account for more than 10 percent of the cadets. Sexual assault happens in the military across the globe. For example, a cadet of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point was recently found to have videotaped female cadets’ taking shower and saved the films. Korea may need to learn how other countries try to prevent sexual assault. The military should check sexual molestation and assault prevention programs of not only the academy but also the entire military.