”We're not close enough to touch each other's butts” - Military classmate's ”one second” deemed sexual harassment in Korea

A court has ruled that touching a fellow soldier's buttocks for "one second" without any sexual intent constitutes sexual harassment in the military.
The Bucheon branch found defendant A, a man in his 20s who was on trial for indecent assault on soldiers and others, guilty but suspended the sentence.
Suspension of sentence is a period of suspension of sentence for relatively minor crimes, and if two years have passed since the suspension date,
In April 2022, Defendant A asked Soldier B, a fellow soldier who was staying in the same dormitory at the Infantry Division in Gangwon Province, "Let's go smoke together."
At the time, Defendant A, who was a private, was not allowed to smoke alone, as he was required to stay with his seniors or classmates in order to prevent accidents.
Defendant A said "thank you" to Soldier B, who he had just met, for willingly accompanying him to the smoking area, and touched his buttocks for about one second. However, Soldier B was confused and had a scared look on his face.
Although Defendant A immediately apologized, the military authorities ended up investigating. The case was transferred to a civilian court in September last year after Defendant A was discharged.
During questioning by the investigative agency, Soldier B claimed, "Defendant A lightly grabbed the right side of my buttocks for about a second to show his affection," and "It was not just a light smack."
However, Defendant A argued in court that "I did lightly slap Soldier B on the buttocks with the palm of my hand, but I did not grab him," and that "it was not sexual harassment and was not an intentional act."
The court ruled, "Although the defendant and the victim were in the same year, it is difficult to imagine that they were close enough to permit buttock contact."
In particular, he explained that "the buttocks are a sexual area that is not usually touched easily even between adult men."
"The defendant's act of touching the victim's buttocks through her trousers was sexually humiliating.
"Sexual harassment is not only offensive and disgusting, but also contradicts good moral values," he said, adding, "Sexual harassment can be recognized as intentional even if there is no intention to satisfy sexual desire."
However, the judge explained the reason for the sentence by saying, "Although the defendant had not received forgiveness from the victim, this was a first-time offender with no prior criminal record," and "the fact that he committed the crime accidentally in an attempt to express his gratitude was taken into consideration."
explained.