The Prosecutors’ Office of the Ministry of National Defense launched an investigation into the case of an Air Force non-commissioned officer (NCO) who took her own life after reporting a sexual assault incident. Military prosecutors are expected to conduct another full investigation of the case.

The defense ministry announced that as of 7 p.m. June 1, Minister of National Defense Suh Wook transferred the case from the Air Force to the ministry’s Prosecutors’ Office and ordered an investigation given the gravity of the case. The defense ministry explained, “The latest action was taken to guarantee transparency and fairness throughout the investigation by closely examining whether there were any problems in the preliminary investigation and problems in the supervision and instruction by commanding officers throughout the entire process including any secondary victimization.”

Earlier this morning, military authorities had decided to establish a joint team of military prosecutors and police at the Air Force Headquarters upon instructions from Minister Suh to “strictly uncover the truth,” but they appear to have decided that an investigation by the Air Force would not be enough to resolve the allegations. If investigators confirm secondary victimization, such as any organized attempt to cajole the victim or conceal the case, commanders as well as the people involved will not be able to avoid a severe reprimand aside from the criminal punishment.

Sergeant A, who was stationed at an Air Force base in Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do, reported to her unit that she was sexually assaulted in the back seat of a car while returning home after she was forced to attend a dinner by Sergeant B, a senior officer on March 2. Sergeant A voluntarily requested a transfer and two days later she requested a leave of absence for two months.

Her family claimed that A had informed her senior officer of the incident on the day it occurred, but that the military failed to immediately separate the victim from her assailant. Her family argues that instead of taking measures according to the victim protection guidelines, the senior officers in her unit tried to cajole A and even contacted her boyfriend, also a soldier, and asked him to persuade A. The Air Force claims that they gave orders to deploy both sergeants A and B to another unit.

Sergeant A showed up for work at her new unit after her leave ended on May 18, but on May 22, she was found dead in her quarters on base. She and her boyfriend had registered their marriage the day before she died, but she appears to have decided to take her life the next day. Her family said that she even captured her final image on her cell phone.

On June 1, a petition titled, “Please investigate the unfair death of my dear daughter, an Air Force sergeant” was posted on the Cheongwadae petition website. The person who launched the petition, believed to be the family of the victim, appealed to the people for justice for the “undue death of my daughter (an Air Force sergeant) who died because of constant harassment in the Air Force; attempts to cajole and press her to settle, to conceal the sexual assault that ensued, and to ignore the incident; and lack of measures to protect her.” Over 200,000 people signed the petition in one day.