Republic of Korea: National Defense Ministry Honors 11 Soldiers for Refusing Illegal Orders
The Ministry of National Defense announced on the 23rd that it will award government commendations to soldiers who, during the December 3 Emergency Martial Law and the Marine Corps member’s death incident, did not carry out illegal or unjust orders and upheld their duties as military personnel, designating them as “individuals who protected constitutional values.”
The recipients of the government commendations include Marine Corps Colonel Park Jeong-hoon, Army Colonel Jo Seong-hyeon, Army Colonel Kim Mun-sang, and Army Lieutenant Colonel Kim Hyung-gi (all recipients of the Order of National Merit Sam-il Medal), among a total of 11 individuals.
Colonel Park was recognized for his contributions to protecting constitutional values, such as freedom of conscience, by refusing a superior’s order to suspend the transfer of the investigation results of the death of Corporal Chae incident to civilian police while serving as the head of the Marine Corps investigation unit. The Ministry of National Defense evaluated that Colonel Jo and Lieutenant Colonel Kim contributed to preventing national chaos by not following orders from the early stages of the December 3 Emergency Martial Law declaration and avoiding clashes with citizens. Colonel Kim was recognized for delaying the entry of Special Forces troops into the National Assembly by 42 minutes through three instances of withholding or refusing emergency flight approvals.
Additionally, one Army sergeant major (anonymous hereafter) will receive the Order of Patriotic Devotion, two Army majors and one Army sergeant will receive the Presidential Citation, and one Army major, one Army captain, and one Army sergeant major will receive the Prime Minister’s Citation. The Ministry of National Defense explained that these individuals protected the lives and safety of citizens by avoiding clashes with them at the National Assembly during the emergency martial law or performing their duties passively, and by delaying the supply of ammunition to deployment units, causing them to deploy without ammunition, among other contributions.
The Ministry of National Defense announced that it plans to award the Minister of National Defense Citation as a military-level commendation to four additional individuals (two Army majors and two Army sergeants major) whose contributions have been confirmed, aside from the 11 government commendation recipients. Among the total 15 recipients of government and military commendations, 14 individuals, excluding Colonel Park, are related to the emergency martial law.
Earlier, on July 18, the Ministry of National Defense stated that it would identify and commend service members who contributed to protecting the lives and safety of citizens by not following illegal or unjust orders during the December 3 Emergency Martial Law.
The Ministry of National Defense stated, “We will do our best to become a military trusted by the public by continuously identifying and commending genuine soldiers who can resolutely reject illegal or unjust orders according to constitutional values and reject injustice.”
A Ministry of National Defense official explained that this commendation and special promotion are separate. The official stated, “The Ministry of National Defense will comprehensively review (special promotions) if there are recommendations from the military.”
The Ministry of National Defense previously implemented an amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Military Personnel Management Act on the 19th of this month, allowing service members from the rank of colonel and below to receive a one-grade special promotion. If Colonels Park Jeong-hoon and Jo Seong-hyeon are included in the special promotion targets, they will be promoted to brigadier generals.
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