Hazing in Korean Military

Hazing in Korean Military

Hazing in Korean Military means evil practices and bullying, and incomprehensible customs conducted in Republic of Korea Army. A similar example is that of Russia's Dedovshchina.It is enforced mainly under the pretext of establishing the military discipline. But actually, it doesn’t improve military discipline. It causes lots of problem and the most well known of the problems are Fragging and Suicide which is called non-combat casualties. In the case of the South Korean military, this non-combat casulaties keeps happening these days.^[1] In past, beating and abuse, harsh words were largely used but after several disaster, beating has almost disappeard. In recent, incomprehensible practices and abuse make up the main line. To prevent any deterioration in the military, Department of defense in Korea has make great effort to eradicate it. Many accidents are being reduced by these efforts, but they are still happening frequently.^[2]

Types of Hazing[edit]

Incomprehensible practices[edit]

There are various incomprehensible rules. These vary by corps, but they have on thing in common. There are certain actions that can be taken by rank. For example, you Private class can not wear slippers and can not walk around alone. If private wants to smoke, he must find upper class soldier and ask him to go out with you. There are more weird rules like 'Do not eat powdered beverage when you are Private class', 'Recruit have to play weird game with his superior','The private should not wear slippers'. These strange rules do not need to be followed anymore as they are promoted. This is carried out under the pretext of establishing the discipline of newly recruited soldiers, but there are many rules like that can not be understood on the common sense line.

Harsh words[edit]

In every group, there is their own language, which is the same in the military. There are many languages in the Korean military that people who have never experienced armies will never understand. One example of this language's word is 'Jjam'. It have various meanings but they basically mean the period and experience they have been performing. And the upper class soldiers harass the lower class soldiers with these words and insulting words.

Beating[edit]

Violence in the army is usually done by the superior to the subordinate. A subordinate is not able to make any resistance and becomes a victim of violence. If the subordinate resists the superior, the offense will be punished with greater punishment than the assailant.

Sexual harassment[edit]

There are a variety of sexual harassment crimes being committed in the military, and because of the environment of closed groups, victims suffer because it takes a lot of effort to reveal and punish perpetrators. For these reasons, it is still happening to this day and is causing social waves.^[3]

History[edit]

Hazing in military are prevalent not only in the Korean military, but in the military of every country.In the United States, for example, there is a famous film called full metal jacket which containing hazing culture, and the Japanese Self Defense Forces are still notorious for this. This depends on the situation in each country and how it is handled. The Korean military started in a very confusing and difficult situation as it faced the Korean War shortly after the liberation of Korea. In this environment, the soldiers in the unit were exposed to intense stress and the military absurdities began gradually. This kind of military irrationality has continued through generations. Because of The problem of architecture in which a solidier controls soldier, It hasn't disappeared yet. Since the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Korea tends to bury Hazing culture affairs without disclosing them to the press, the affairs of Hazing culture have been widely known and corrected in recent years.

Reasons[edit]

In this way, there is Hazing culture in the Korean military that causes many incidents. There are various and complex causes in this hazing culture. These problems arise from the interaction of the multiple factors of the individual, social, and subordinate dimensions.^[4] Large-scale military organizations require a strong order in the organization to maintain the necessary homogeneity in mission performance, and this order maintenance can be found in the absolute need for a vertical relationship based on strict class structure. In order to carry out the function of the unit even in situations, it requires a strong solidarity among the members of the organization, and it is explained that it absolutely trusts the purpose of the state and demands "high loyalty and patriotism"^[5]. In this situation, the system of managing the soldiers by soldiers make Hazing culture.

Incident case[edit]

2011.07 Second Marine Division shooting spree [1] 2013.07 Private Kim Suicide [2] 2014.06 강원도 고성 군부대 총기 난사 사건 [3] 2015.09 Suicide at GP [4] 2017 07 22 Infantry Private Goh committing suicide by jump [5]