Officer Left Unit 64 Times to Feed His Lizard... Court: "Two-Month Suspension Justified"

Delayed approval of 698 soldiers' leave and overnight-stay requests, plus verbal abuse
Court: "Multiple violations can warrant dismissal from service"

A court has ruled that a two-month suspension imposed on an Army officer was justified after he delayed approving his subordinates' leave, verbally abused them, and repeatedly left his unit without authorization during working hours.

The Busan District Court's Administrative Division 1-3, presided over by Judge Heo Junseo, said on the 16th that it had dismissed a lawsuit filed by Officer A seeking to overturn the suspension imposed by his unit commander.

Officer A, who was commissioned in 2014, received a two-month suspension after it was confirmed that, while serving as a brigade headquarters company commander and in other roles, he had violated his duties of diligence and maintaining dignity and had left his workplace without authorization.

Court flag. Yonhap News

From October 2023 to November 2024, Officer A delayed approving 698 requests for off-base passes, overnight stays, and leave submitted by 26 soldiers. Some soldiers were unable to obtain railway tickets through the Transportation Movement Office (TMO) in time and had to pay their own travel expenses.

He was also found to have verbally abused soldiers. He told a soldier who asked him to approve leave, "Is this a neighborhood office? Get lost." He also made remarks to the effect of, "You can't get discharged just because that little thing hurts. Get out on grounds of mental illness," to a soldier who had requested a change of assignment due to back pain. The disciplinary charges also included unfair orders, such as requiring a soldier to clean a firearm for 10 days, including on weekends and during personal maintenance time, because the soldier had not cleaned it properly.

He also repeatedly left his workplace. Over a 10-month period, Officer A left the unit 64 times in his personal vehicle during weekday working hours without applying for a pass or annual leave or reporting to his commanding officer. The guard commander testified that Officer A had left the unit for reasons such as "I need to feed my lizard" and "I need to wash my car."

Officer A filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the disciplinary action, but the court rejected his claim. The panel said, "Under Army disciplinary regulations, the severity of the misconduct could warrant dismissal, and when multiple violations are considered together, dismissal from service may also be imposed." It added that the two-month suspension was "significantly less severe than the dismissal from service that could have been imposed."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.