Angry officer stabs woman in leg

A medical non-commissioned officer surnamed Lee, 24, was arrested for allegedly stabbing a female officer while drunk. The event occurred on Aug. 5, after he got into a quarrel with his colleagues.

“The victim got neural damages in her thigh due to the incident,” said an official from the Armed Forces Medical Command on Friday. “She is currently being treated in a private hospital.”

Around 10 officers from the Korean Armed Forces Hongcheon Hospital in Hongcheon County, Gangwon, gathered on Aug. 5 for dinner and drinks. The conflict began when Lee was reprimanded for his rudeness by another non-commissioned officer with a lower rank, according to police.

“It seems like Lee felt disrespected that someone with a lower rank scolded him,” said a military official.

After dinner, the party moved on to a noraebang (karaoke room). Lee, who had left for home around midnight, also showed up, holding a knife, police later said. Lee brandished his knife and moved toward the non-commissioned officer he had quarreled with, the report noted, who then ran away with wounds to his stomach.

Police also said the female officer, running into Lee on her way back from the washroom, was stabbed in several places including her thigh.

The chaos was concluded when a civilian military worker inside the noraebang venue subdued Lee. Police arrested Lee for bodily harm and handed him over to the military police.

The lack of discipline at the Armed Forces Medical Command is becoming an issue as a number of recent incidents like this has unfolded.

In June, a sergeant of the army was paralyzed in his arm due to a misdiagnosed injection at an army hospital. Also, the director of a national army hospital in Gyeonggi, a married man, was found to have sexually harassed his female subordinate.

The Defense Intelligence Command, another military unit under the direct control of the Ministry of National Defense, also had a tragic incident in which its submersible exploded and killed three officers.

Following these incidents, the vice-minister of the ministry held a meeting with commanding officers to go over the units’ discipline procedures.

BY PARK SEONG-HUN [shon.jihye@joongang.co.kr]