Chuncheon Attorney Recommendation Case | Helping a Client Who Was the Perpetrator of Military Cruel Treatment Defend Against Punishment with a Fine

The crime of cruel treatment by abuse of authority is an offense committed when a person uses force to commit a cruel act against another.

Force refers to the use of power sufficient to overpower a person's free will.

As with the client in the case above, an exercise of force that occurs while in the status of a service member is regarded as military cruel treatment, which refers to a case where physical or mental suffering is inflicted on a service member through abuse of authority, exercise of force, or other means.

For 🔗military cruel treatment, whether conduct amounts to it must be judged by examining the specific circumstances, including the status of the actor and the victim, the situation they were in, the purpose of the conduct, and the circumstances and consequences leading to the conduct.

It further stated that, even if the conduct was for an educational purpose, consideration must also be given to whether it exceeded the legitimate limits of conduct necessary for education.

A person who has committed military cruel treatment is punishable under the Military Criminal Act.

Military Criminal Act Article 62 (Cruel Treatment)

1. A person who abuses authority to commit abuse or cruel treatment shall be punished by imprisonment for up to five years.

2. A person who uses force to commit abuse or cruel treatment shall be punished by imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 7 million won.

As a defense strategy for the client who received a Chuncheon attorney recommendation, the attorney explained that the purpose was not to harass.

The victim had often been told that his voice was too quiet when responding.

For the sake of the victim, who had a timid personality, the client had him repeat questions and answers dozens of times in order to respond in a loud voice.

The client did not act with the purpose of harassment, but he acknowledges that he exceeded the legitimate limits necessary for education, and he is deeply remorseful about this.

The Chuncheon attorney argued that the assault charge did not involve intentional conduct.

The client suffers from shoulder pain severe enough to require an MRI examination.

Because all of the soldiers in the barracks were aware of the client's condition, they were being careful and considerate so as not to bump his shoulder even by accident.

Meanwhile, the victim, who believed the client was subjecting him to cruel treatment, maliciously bumped hard into the client's shoulder as the client was opening the barracks door to leave.

Angered by this, the client pushed the victim's opposite shoulder in the same way, telling him to feel as much pain as he did.

The Chuncheon attorney argued that there was no other violence whatsoever, and that even this act was something the client, in extreme pain, did in a moment of being unable to contain his anger.

The Chuncheon attorney submitted as evidence the statement of a soldier in the barracks that the victim had deliberately bumped into and passed by the client's injured shoulder first.