15 South Korean officials indicted over Air Force sexual abuse victim's death

Including those facing trials, 38 officials will be subject to disciplinary measures, the Ministry said, announcing the results of its 120-day investigation into the incident that sparked an intense public outcry over the military's failure to protect the victim, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The master sergeant, surnamed Lee, took her own life in late May, about three months after she was allegedly groped and suffered other abuse by a colleague of the same rank, surnamed Jang.

Jang was arrested in June, only after the case became known to the media, and is currently standing trial.

According to the probe results, Air Force officials allegedly tried to cover up the case without giving proper help to the victim.

But the investigation fell short of indicting senior officials who were in charge of supervising the initial probe into the case.

Of 25 booked in relation to the case, 10 avoided indictment.

Besides Jang, two non-commissioned officers were arrested for allegedly trying to persuade the victim to drop the complaint.

But one of them, surnamed Noh, died in an apparent suicide in July while detained at a military facility.

In the course of the investigation, prosecutors also found that the two allegedly molested Lee in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Lee's death sparked intense public fury, leading to former Air Force Chief of Staff Lee Seong-yong stepping down and President Moon Jae-in apologising.

In response, the National Assembly also revised the Military Court Act in August to subject service members involved in sexual violence cases to face trials at civilian courts, not military courts.