South Korean soldier fined 5 million won for assaulting junior and accessing KakaoTalk messages

A man in his 20s has been fined 5 million won for assaulting a junior soldier during military service and reading the soldier's KakaoTalk messages without consent.

Changwon District Court Judge Lee Byung-ho of the seventh criminal division handed down the sentence on three charges, according to the court's announcement on the 6th. The defendant allegedly struck the junior soldier several times without a clear reason in a barracks at a military base in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, in January while serving in the military.

“

The victim is still suffering from insomnia, anxiety and depression because of the defendant's abusive conduct, and will need psychiatric counseling and medication in the future.

He also allegedly made sexually insulting remarks about the soldier in front of other colleagues. In a separate offense, he searched the junior soldier's phone KakaoTalk messages for the names of senior soldiers and the word "senior," then disclosed the contents to fellow soldiers.

Judge Lee said the victim still suffers from insomnia, anxiety and depression because of the defendant's abusive conduct and will require psychiatric counseling and medication. The judge said the sentence reflected the poor nature of the offenses and the fact that the defendant had not received forgiveness from the victim.

“

Considering the nature of the offenses and the fact that the defendant was not forgiven by the victim, I determined the sentence.