Service members visit the memorial altar of the Air Force master sergeant on June 10, 2021. (Photo: Yonhap)
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family says the Air Force failed to properly deal with a recent sexual assault case despite having a system in place to respond to such matters.
The stance was issued Tuesday in response to the case of a female master sergeant who was found dead in May, in an apparent suicide, some two months after being sexually harassed by a male colleague of the same rank.
The ministry conducted a probe and concluded that although the Air Force has regulations and guidelines that outlines how to handle incidents of sexual assault and violence, they are often not applied to reported cases.
It said in regard to the incident in question, the Air Force did not report the victim's sexual assault claim to its own gender equality center or the defense ministry as laid out in its manual.
The defense ministry plans to release the results of its own investigation later this week, at the earliest.
Please send comments to tbsefmnews@gmail.com / copyright © tbs. Unauthorized redistribution prohibited.
