Military criticized for ‘outdated’ institutions violating basic human rights
The military authorities’ “outdated” institutions are receiving criticism for violating the basic human rights of service members.
One such criticism included a rulebook on barracks life at the Air Force Basic Military Training Wing, where every member of the Republic of Korea Air Force goes through basic training.
The rulebook stated that female service members should take a pregnancy test once they join the training wing and again every time they return back to the barracks after an overnight trip.
This article was removed from the rulebook after a revision in April this year, but the military has received criticism for keeping such an outdated rule until recently.
After coming under the media spotlight in early October, the ROKAF said such practices have not been implemented for the past 10 years.
But criticism continues over other outdated articles still included in the rulebook, such as one making attendance at religious events mandatory for service members. Critics noted that such rules were made after a recent revision as the rulebook formerly stated that service members should not be forced to participate in religious events.
Banning or regulating romantic relationships among service members in the Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force has also remained controversial for violating basic human rights.
“Such outdated policies against human rights that remain inside the military are problematic. The military should thoroughly investigate such cases internally to figure out reasonable ways to fix them,” Rep. Do Jong-whan of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) who is also a member of the National Assembly National Defense Committee was cited as saying by local reports.
The “glass ceiling” inside the military has also received criticism over the low numbers of women in high-ranking positions.
The number of female officers promoted to the higher ranks was still low at the level from colonels to generals in major policy departments at the Ministry of National Defense, according to recent data submitted by each service and the ministry to the office of another National Defense Committee member Rep. Kim Joong-ro of the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party.
“It turned out that it is seven times harder for female officers to be promoted to general than for male officers,” according to a statement released by Kim’s office, Oct. 10.
“While six out of 1,000 male officers become generals, less than one out of 1,000 female officers become a general. There are only 1.2 female generals for every 100 generals.”
Currently, there about 420 generals in the South Korean military.
Kim noted that the highest rank a female officer has achieved so far is one-star general, the lowest with four-star being the highest.
The gender imbalance deepens among field officers. The ratio of male to female majors is 88:12, but the ratio for lieutenant-colonels and colonels is 93:7 and 99:1, respectively.
Female officers who become colonels heading ministry of defense departments are few, with only one female colonel heading the Gender Equality and Family’s Affairs Policy Division among about 30 colonels heading departments there.
There are only two female colonels — heading the hygiene and medical divisions — out of 150 at Army headquarters, according to Kim.
He called on the ministry to solve the gender imbalance in high-ranking officers to bring about real effects from its gender equality policy. The ministry is aiming to expand the number of female officers to 8.8 percent from 6.7 percent now.