Eight navy servicemen received major demerits after a video was circulated apparently showing one of them naked as he partied with hostesses at a KTV parlor in Kaohsiung, the Naval Fleet Command Headquarters said yesterday.
An investigation was launched last week after the video emerged, which allegedly showed a navy lieutenant surnamed Huang (黃), who was among a group of six servicemen at a dinner on a night off in January, after which they went to a private suite at a KTV parlor.
The video angered Admiral Huang Shu-kuang (黃曙光), commander of the Republic of China (ROC) Navy, Chinese-language reports said.
All eight received a major demerit, which could see them dismissed after the year-end evaluations.
The video, which was allegedly circulated among some naval units, showed men dancing and singing with what was apparently several female KTV employees dressed as maids.
A petty officer working in telecommunications was seen being stripped of his clothing by fellow sailors.
The men said that they were just having fun during their time off and were sorry about what had happened, investigators said.
Other testimony said that the petty officer was stripped because the KTV staff were not fully engaged in the party, investigators said.
Officials initiated the investigation as the video put the ROC Navy in a bad light, with servicemen at “a premises of questionable repute,” they said.
Reports said that the servicemen were from the ATF-563 Da Tai supply ship, a World War II-era tug that served in the US Navy and was later sold to Taiwan under the Security Assistance Program.
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