Rampant Human Rights Abuses within Army(in south Korea)

Rampant Human Rights Abuses within Army Of late, human rights abuses are very serious within the south Korean army. The mental and physical fatigue of the south Korean soldiers have gone beyond the red line as they have been involved in the war exercises against the DPRK. It is common in the army that officers, noncommissioned officers and privates have behaved violently and killed each other. They took their lives in order to relieve unbearable pains.     A soldier hung himself by a tree to death on January 26 in Gosong area and a sergeant shot himself to death on the beach on April 10. A recruit was found dead in Cheolwon area in May. On August 9, a soldier was found dead with gunshot wound in a frontline unit in Paju City, Gyeonggi Province. Hitting a head of helmeted soldier with a chair, imitation of a dog creeping on the floor, licking expectoration on the floor and insulting in the face of a naked solider are prevalent in the south Korean army in a broad daylight.   Plight of women in the army is wretched. They are regarded as a good time-killer and plaything without distinction of officer or soldier and they are in the constant grip of uneasiness for fear of sexual abuses. A written survey of 100 women officers and soldiers published by the human rights center of the south Korean army revealed that one out of five sustained sexual violence. The commander of second operational command and his wife treated soldiers as their servants. The commander and his wife made soldiers wear armlets for call signal to wash clothes, iron and clean toilet. They forced the soldiers to remove finger and toenails on the floor or sofa. They hurled rotten fruits or left-overs of food at and pumped curses upon the soldiers for they did their jobs unsatisfactorily. Unable to bear their anguish, some soldiers killed themselves.   Broad segments of south Korean people describe the south Korean army as a “concentration camp without bars”, “plant of handicapped person” and “manufactory of cadaver”. Evasion of military service is ubiquitous across south Korea.