The Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]
The Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]

A five-year prison sentence has been finalized for an Air Force colonel from the 17th Fighter Wing who was convicted of attempting to rape a junior female officer under his command and injuring her in the process.

The Supreme Court's Second Division, presided over by Justice Eom Sang-pil, upheld the lower court's sentence Wednesday, confirming the five-year term on charges including aggravated rape of a military member. The court also maintained orders requiring the colonel, identified only as A, to complete a 40-hour sexual violence treatment program and barring him from employment at institutions serving children, adolescents and people with disabilities for seven years.

A was arrested and indicted after allegedly attempting to rape a junior female officer, identified as B, at his official residence in October 2024, leaving her with injuries requiring two weeks of medical treatment. He also faced charges of forcibly groping B in a taxi and elsewhere after a group dinner.

A denied all charges, claiming the incidents never occurred, but the courts rejected his defense.

The first-instance court sharply criticized the conduct, saying sex crimes against military personnel "not only violate the victim's right to sexual self-determination but also damage a healthy barracks culture and undermine military organization and discipline, making them highly blameworthy for their adverse effect on establishing military order."

A appealed, but both the appellate court and the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion.

The Military Sexual Violence Counseling Center, an affiliate of the Military Human Rights Center that first exposed the case, welcomed the ruling after sentencing. "We welcome this verdict, which holds the perpetrator publicly accountable for continuing to inflict secondary harm on the victim by maintaining his innocence claims," the center said, adding that it "strongly urges solidarity in severely punishing abuse-of-power sex crimes and helping victims rebuild their daily lives."

Following Wednesday's sentencing, A's legal team said it planned to review the written ruling and "examine available legal remedies including retrial and constitutional complaint, and will also legally review whether any distortion of law occurred during the investigation, prosecution and trial process."


jshan@heraldcorp.com