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Funds trump righ ts in the armed For ces The lack of attention and resources paid by the military toward the human rights sit- uation in its own ranks has come under fire following a string of abuse cases and suicides that were recently made public. The Korean Army found itself at the center of controversy once again after the abrupt death of a young conscript in its 28th Divi - sion was unveiled. The 23-year-old private, surnamed Yun, died after being beaten and sexually humil- iated by his superiors in the barracks for months, according to the Center for Military Human Rights. For weeks after his passing, the Army claimed Yun had died after choking on food. The incident has since raised ques- tions about military culture, as well as the or- ganization’s handling of human rights issues regarding its own soldiers. It also recalled similar issues of bullying and violence in the barracks that have either been encouraged or tolerated by its leaders — a practice that has led to a spate of suicides and fatalities. Such tragedies have struck a chord with the general public — all able-bodied Korean men between the ages of 18 and 35 are required to complete compulsory military service — and sharpened the spotlight on just how much military officials are actively working to improve the situation. According to recent data, only 127 million won, or 0.0005 percent, of this year’s entire national defense budget of 25.1 trillion won, was assigned to human rights–related mat- ters. The findings were submitted to New Politics Alliance for Democracy Rep. Seo Young-kyo by the Ministry of National De- fense. Taking into account the more than 600,000 soldiers currently serving, this means that only 210 won was invested per soldier for human rights purposes this year. The budget for human rights–related mat- ters was incr eased from 85 million won in 2009, and 160 million in 2010, to 328 mil- lion won in 2011, but it was decreased again to 167 million won in 2012 and 141 million won last year. The human rights budget was the largest in 2011, though about 200 million won was spent that year on a committee tasked with investigating mysterious deaths in the mil- itary, meaning that the actual amount put forth to protect soldiers’ human rights has essentially stayed consistent over the years. While the human rights budget decreased for three consecutive years, the entire na- tional defense budget steadily increased from 20.3 trillion won in 2009 to 25.2 trillion won this year. “The Ministry of National Defense has aggra- vated the situation by only patching up inci- dents within the military forces and also by ignoring human rights education, the funda- mental solution to such problems,” Seo said. all stories are culled with consent from Korea Joongang daily’s website and edited by groove Korea for length and clarity. the opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of groove Korea. — ed. n a t i o n a l n e w swith September 2014 / www.koreajoongangdaily.com woman escapes 2nd murde r rap in deaths oF lover, husband The 50-year-old woman at the center of a grisly murder investigation has avoided a second murder charge, police said. Police earlier said the woman, identified only as Lee, confessed to killing her 49-year- old lover in May and keeping his body in her apartment. During their initial investigation, police also found the decomposed body of her husband in the apartment, and had been trying to establish the facts about his death. Lee had denied killing him. “Lee said she kept her husband’s corpse be - cause she loved him,” said Kim Chung-hwan, chief of the Pocheon Police Precinct, at a briefing. “She also said that she found him dead 10 years ago when she tried to wake him in the morning.” Kim added, “She stated that she did not know she had to report his death.” The length of time since the husband’s death, police said, made it impossible to contest Lee’s assertion that her husband died from natural causes. The police yester - day also concluded that the suspect killed her 49-year-bo yfriend, who was identified only as Lee, last year. They could not prove whether she killed her husband, though, be- cause there was no evidence to refute her claim that her husband died of natural cases. The police yesterday forwarded the case to the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors’ Of- fice. She is accused on one count of murder, two of keeping corpses and on one charge of child neglect for living with her 8-year-old child in the apartment with the corpses for two months. www.groovekorea.com / September 2014 26