South Korea's Supreme Court has ruled that an Army officer who disparaged a superior in front of enlisted soldiers cannot be punished under the military law banning insults against superiors.
The third division of the Supreme Court, with Justice Lee Sook-yeon as presiding judge, said on Sept. 17 that it had overturned a lower court ruling that sentenced an Army captain, identified as A, to one year in prison suspended for two years on charges of insulting a superior and assault. The case was sent back to the Seoul High Court.
The captain, who served as headquarters company commander at an Army supply command, was indicted over remarks made in November 2023 at an administrative office of a unit in Busan. Prosecutors said he complained about training instructions issued by his direct superior, a major surnamed B who headed the intelligence and operations section, and spoke ill of the major while four or five enlisted soldiers were present. According to the investigation, the captain said things such as "If I weren't a soldier, I would have hit them already," "That's why they're still only a major at that age," "They forget what they said an hour ago — do they have some kind of illness?" and "They curse at me when they don't even know how the company is running."
Separately, the captain was also charged with assault for an incident in February 2024, when the captain was conducting an evaluation of military songs in the hallway outside the company commander's office. Prosecutors said the captain overheard a conversation among unit members, suddenly shouted, grabbed a soldier by the collar and shoved the soldier against a wall.
The first and second trial courts each sentenced the captain to one year in prison, suspended for two years. The first trial court found the captain guilty on all counts except for two of the remarks — the comment about the major still holding that rank at that age and the comment about the major forgetting what had been said an hour earlier.
The Supreme Court took a different view. It said the offense of insulting a superior under Article 64, Paragraph 2 of the Military Criminal Act is established only when the insult is delivered by publicly displaying a document, drawing or effigy, by making a speech, or by a comparably public method.
"The defendant's conduct cannot be seen as insulting a superior by a method as public as displaying a document or delivering a speech, and therefore does not constitute the offense of insulting a superior under the Military Criminal Act," the court said. "There was an error in the interpretation of the law on insulting a superior, and because this portion stands in a relationship of a single comprehensive crime or concurrent crimes with the acquitted portion and the assault portion found guilty, the lower court ruling is overturned in its entirety."
