At the Unit Mobilized During Martial Law... Controversy Over "Bringing in Female Models to Teach Soldiers 'Model Walking'"

Event held at 1st Parachute Special Forces Brigade
People Power Party lawmaker Park Chungkwon launches scathing criticism

Controversy has arisen after a unit under the Army Special Warfare Command held “model-walking” lessons for soldiers.

The released video showed female models wearing camouflage outfits and high heels teaching soldiers how to walk and pose. Screenshot from TV Chosun.

According to TV Chosun on November 5, the Army’s 1st Special Forces Brigade held an event called the “K-Walking Performance Military Festival” at its gym on October 29, where soldiers received lessons on how to walk and pose from female models.

In the released video, models wearing camouflage outfits and white hats stepped forward with their right feet in front of the soldiers, and the troops standing in rows all followed the same move. The models then walked along lines marked on the gym floor, crossing one foot over the other, and the soldiers followed.

The models also demonstrated a “turn,” twisting their bodies to change direction, and poses in which they crossed their legs and bent their arms. The soldiers imitated the models’ poses, and some smiled as if embarrassed.

There was also a session in which the soldiers came forward one by one and demonstrated model walking as the models watched. Unlike typical military drill, which emphasizes set movements and disciplined motions, the lesson focused on learning the distinctive walk and posture of fashion models.

The 1st Special Forces Brigade, where the lesson was held, was among the units mobilized during the December 3 emergency martial law declaration in 2024. Lee Sanghyun, who was the brigade commander at the time, is currently standing trial in connection with the martial law declaration.

Park Chung-kwon of the People Power Party criticized the program in a Facebook post, saying, “North Korea is carrying out ‘mixed launches’ of mines, ballistic and cruise missiles, and multiple rocket launchers, while the Ministry of National Defense under the Lee Jae-myung administration is bringing fashion models to the Special Forces to teach them how to walk. With the president himself having a hazy sense of national security, the minister is putting on musicals, corps commanders are having troops guard with unloaded rifles, and front-line unit commanders are holding special lectures on model walking. They are not in their right minds.”

He added, “The frontline soldiers are not to blame. The military must take full responsibility for the sense of shame the elite soldiers must have felt,” and held the military leadership accountable, saying, “A government that cannot even respond properly when a soldier’s ankle is severed has no right to talk about the military’s basic posture.”

The unit told TV Chosun, “As part of intensive character education conducted to foster soldiers’ character, the unit planned and arranged this program on its own so that service members could learn proper posture and walking and thereby establish the basic posture expected of soldiers. Going forward, we will continue to make improvements by gathering soldiers’ opinions and ensuring that character education programs are run in a way that reflects the unit’s characteristics and meets the soldiers’ expectations.”

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