Photos posted on the Internet of South Korean soldiers forced to stand naked raised new concerns of abuse in the nation's military, as the legislature prepared to vote yesterday on the defense minister's dismissal after a conscript's deadly shooting spree.
The photos and killings are raising concern across South Korea, where most men are required to serve in the military for about two years.
One of the 88 pictures released yesterday by the civic group Citizens' Solidarity for Human Rights shows naked soldiers crouching with their heads bent to the ground, while commanders watch.
Another shows about 100 soldiers standing naked in lines.
The photos have been circulating on the Internet since last week.
anonymous photos
The pictures, sent anonymously to the rights group, demonstrate serious human rights abuses in the military, said the group's spokesman Choi Chul-gyu.
"These practices are taking place in the military for the purpose of what people call discipline," Choi said.
"The problem is, while it is clear that these practices are serious violations of human rights, people tend to accept them as something natural and justifiable because they are being done in the military," he added.
Also yesterday, lawmakers were set to vote on an opposition-backed motion to dismiss Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung over eight troops who died in an alleged June 19 rampage by a conscript who was angered by verbal harassment.
Investigators have accused Kim Dong-min of throwing grenades into a barracks full of sleeping soldiers and going on a shooting spree at a guard post near the border with North Korea.
Calls for the defense minister's removal have intensified with the abuse concerns, and President Roh Moo-hyun has drawn media criticism for defending him. Roh refused to accept the minister's resignation last week over the soldier's rampage.
Roh has criticized the opposition for pushing him to accept Yoon's resignation, accusing them of abusing their power.
`out of step'
The liberal Hankyoreh newspaper said the refusal was "out of step with popular sentiment."
"Measures taken with regard to the shooting spree and other problems can be implemented by a new defense minister," the newspaper's editorial said.
"A vote on Yoon would only take a moment but the aftereffects would last a long time," the newspaper added.
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