By Choi Ha-young
The Korea Military Academy (KMA) and the Korea Naval Academy (KNA) have created files showing personal data of male and female cadets who are dating each other, Rep. Rhee Cheol-hee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea claimed Thursday.
The files included the couples' names, residences and family backgrounds, Rhee said.
A paper obtained from the KNA listed the private data of 19 couples. The KMA and the Korea Armed Forces Nursing Academy (KAFNA) were also updating such lists.
Three academies ― the KMA, KNA and the Air Force Academy ― commonly prohibit cadets from dating each other when they are freshmen. Cadets at the Korea Army Academy at Yeongcheon can start dating in the second semester of third grade.
If cadets ― after completing a year in the academy ― decide to start a relationship, they are obliged to report their relationship to a teacher in charge of moral training. If students are caught breaking the rule, they are punished according to school regulations, Rep. Rhee said in a press statement.
On April 15 last year, a female freshman and a male first classman were placed on probation for eight and 12 weeks respectively, according to the rule.
Even though they were not dating each other, confessing love to one another was deemed a matter for management. If a senior cadet asks a freshman on a date, the younger one should report this to the teacher. Otherwise, they could be punished.
Further, the KMA, KNA and KAFNA prohibit male and female cadets from staying together in an enclosed space ― office room, classroom, ward, language learning room, reading room or museum. Taking a walk on an isolated road is also banned.
From the beginning of this year, eight couples at the KMA were placed under probation for dating and one couple was punished for staying in the same place. On July 13 last year, a male and a female cadet at the Korea Army Academy at Yeongcheon were subject to the heaviest punishment short of expulsion.
"Military discipline would grow when cadets learn self-regulation rather than under invasion of privacy," Rep. Rhee noted. "Such regulations show how outdated the academies are. The rules are also against the Constitution and positive laws."
A law regarding soldiers' status and service stipulates the fundamental rights of soldiers, including protection of their privacy.
Questioned about the rules in a National Assembly audit Thursday, Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Um Hyun-seong vowed to revise the "undemocratic" system. "I totally agree with Rep. Rhee's point of view," Um said.
The issue had surfaced in August 2013, when the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recommended the Air Force Academy not ban dating between cadets. The Academy dismissed the recommendation. The NHRC, however, has not taken issue with the same rules at the other academies.
Human rights violations in military academies have drawn flak in recent years. On May 16, 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that expulsion of a KMA first classman for having sex with his fiancee, then a student of a private university, was "illegal." In 2012, the KMA expelled the cadet from the academy citing his "dishonesty and lack of moderation."
Following the final ruling, the KMA, the KNA and the Air Force Academy partly alleviated rules against drinking and wearing casual clothes off campus, but they still forbid smoking and marriage.
Recently, the KMA caused a stir for interfering in cadets' chat rooms. The KMA used to punish cadets for talking in chat rooms without the supervision of a moral training teacher. In January this year, the KMA accepted the NHRC's recommendation to abolish this rule, after the civic group Center for Military Human Rights Korea brought up the issue.
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| Rep. Rhee Cheol-hee |
The files included the couples' names, residences and family backgrounds, Rhee said.
A paper obtained from the KNA listed the private data of 19 couples. The KMA and the Korea Armed Forces Nursing Academy (KAFNA) were also updating such lists.
Three academies ― the KMA, KNA and the Air Force Academy ― commonly prohibit cadets from dating each other when they are freshmen. Cadets at the Korea Army Academy at Yeongcheon can start dating in the second semester of third grade.
If cadets ― after completing a year in the academy ― decide to start a relationship, they are obliged to report their relationship to a teacher in charge of moral training. If students are caught breaking the rule, they are punished according to school regulations, Rep. Rhee said in a press statement.
On April 15 last year, a female freshman and a male first classman were placed on probation for eight and 12 weeks respectively, according to the rule.
Even though they were not dating each other, confessing love to one another was deemed a matter for management. If a senior cadet asks a freshman on a date, the younger one should report this to the teacher. Otherwise, they could be punished.
Further, the KMA, KNA and KAFNA prohibit male and female cadets from staying together in an enclosed space ― office room, classroom, ward, language learning room, reading room or museum. Taking a walk on an isolated road is also banned.
From the beginning of this year, eight couples at the KMA were placed under probation for dating and one couple was punished for staying in the same place. On July 13 last year, a male and a female cadet at the Korea Army Academy at Yeongcheon were subject to the heaviest punishment short of expulsion.
"Military discipline would grow when cadets learn self-regulation rather than under invasion of privacy," Rep. Rhee noted. "Such regulations show how outdated the academies are. The rules are also against the Constitution and positive laws."
A law regarding soldiers' status and service stipulates the fundamental rights of soldiers, including protection of their privacy.
Questioned about the rules in a National Assembly audit Thursday, Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Um Hyun-seong vowed to revise the "undemocratic" system. "I totally agree with Rep. Rhee's point of view," Um said.
The issue had surfaced in August 2013, when the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recommended the Air Force Academy not ban dating between cadets. The Academy dismissed the recommendation. The NHRC, however, has not taken issue with the same rules at the other academies.
Human rights violations in military academies have drawn flak in recent years. On May 16, 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that expulsion of a KMA first classman for having sex with his fiancee, then a student of a private university, was "illegal." In 2012, the KMA expelled the cadet from the academy citing his "dishonesty and lack of moderation."
Following the final ruling, the KMA, the KNA and the Air Force Academy partly alleviated rules against drinking and wearing casual clothes off campus, but they still forbid smoking and marriage.
Recently, the KMA caused a stir for interfering in cadets' chat rooms. The KMA used to punish cadets for talking in chat rooms without the supervision of a moral training teacher. In January this year, the KMA accepted the NHRC's recommendation to abolish this rule, after the civic group Center for Military Human Rights Korea brought up the issue.
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