How Sexual Violence Leads To Suicide In S. Korea’s Military

South Korea’s 550,000-member military is considered one of its most hierarchical and male-dominant institutions. In a survey conducted by the Defense Ministry in 2019, fewer than 1/3rd of those who said they had experienced sexual assault reported it to the authorities, as most of them felt “nothing would happen.” In 2021, a 22-year-old female Korean soldier, Lee Yaeram, committed suicide after being repeatedly sexually assaulted by her male colleague. Her death incited national outrage, prompting an amendment of the Military Court Act. The proposal calls for limiting military court to first trials and transferring appeals to civilian courts. VICE World News speaks to Bang Hyelin, a survivor of sexual violence and former Captain at the ROK Marines about her experiences in South Korea’s military. VICE World News reached out to South Korea’s Ministry of Defence for comments. We did not receive a response at the time of publication. Click here to subscribe to VICE: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE About VICE: The Definitive Guide To Enlightening Information. From every corner of the planet, our immersive, caustic, ground-breaking and often bizarre stories have changed the way people think about culture, crime, art, parties, fashion, protest, the internet and other subjects that don't even have names yet. Browse the growing library and discover corners of the world you never knew existed. Welcome to VICE. Connect with VICE: Check out our full video catalog: http://bit.ly/VICE-Videos Videos, daily editorial and more: http://vice.com More videos from the VICE network: https://www.fb.com/vicevideo Click here to get the best of VICE daily: http://bit.ly/1SquZ6v Like VICE on Facebook: http://fb.com/vice Follow VICE on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vice Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/vice Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vice?lang=en The VICE YouTube Network: VICE: https://www.youtube.com/VICE MUNCHIES: https://www.youtube.com/MUNCHIES VICE News: https://www.youtube.com/VICENews VICELAND: https://www.youtube.com/VICELANDTV Vice Life: https://www.youtube.com/Broadly Noisey: https://www.youtube.com/Noisey Motherboard: https://www.youtube.com/MotherboardTV VICE Sports: https://www.youtube.com/NOC i-D: http://www.youtube.com/iDmagazine Waypoint: https://www.youtube.com/WaypointVICE