The Ministry of Defense stated that there are no problems with laws and regulations regarding the suspicion of Choo Mi-ae's son's preferential vacation.
Today (10th), the Ministry of Defense published reference materials related to'Leave of the Minister of Justice' and explained the laws and regulations related to the vacation.
Minister Chu's son, Seo Mo, took the first sick leave for 10 days from June 5 to 14, 2017, and the second sick leave for 9 days from June 15 to 23 without returning to the unit.
On the 24th, he returned to the unit on the 27th using 4 days of personal vacation.
During this process, suspicions were raised that Seo had been verbally extended and that he had not been reviewed by the Military Hospital Medical Care Deliberation Committee to extend sick leave.
First of all, Article 12 of the Presidential Decree'Enforcement Decree of the Basic Act on the Status and Service of Soldiers' states that'when the person needs medical care due to an injury or illness, or when the person needs to provide nursing due to injury or illness of an immediate family member' petitioned leave within 30 days. That the commander can approve it.
Article 6 (2) of the Ministry of Defense Order'Ordinance on Health Insurance Medical Care for Active Diseases, etc.' specifies that the commander of the unit can grant an extension of the petition leave within 20 days, and in the case of admission to a private hospital, it is stipulated that a military hospital medical treatment deliberation is required. Done.
Therefore, the Ministry of Defense explained that Seo, who has not been admitted to a private hospital, can be granted an extension of the petition leave for medical purposes without going through a military hospital medical examination.
At the time, there was an issue that the ‘in case of hospitalization’ was not specified in the conditions for medical treatment deliberation by the Army's regulations, and there was a problem that he had to undergo medical treatment deliberation. I don't see it.
In December of last year, the Ministry of Defense revised the directive to prevent people from taking a petition leave unless hospitalized treatment, and also revised the Army's regulations so that hospitalizations in February of this year are subject to conscience deliberation.
The extension of Mr. Seo's vacation seems to have been made in accordance with Article 65 of the'Unit Management Order' and Article 111 of the'Army Barrack Living Regulations'.
Article 65 of the'Unit Management Directive' states that if it is expected that returning to be delayed due to natural disasters, traffic interruptions, mental and physical disabilities, family changes, or other special reasons during going out, staying out or on vacation, there is no delay, such as telephone or telegram. It is stipulated that the fastest means of communication should be reported to the head of the unit.
Article 111 of the'Army Barracks Living Regulations', in relation to the extension of the vacation period,'when a person is unable to return within the period due to natural disasters, traffic disruptions, or other unavoidable reasons, use possible means (telephone, etc.), and contact the unit to be returned from the license holder. It stipulates that you must obtain permission for the required period of time.
The Ministry of Defense said that according to the directives and regulations, leave permit holders can take the leave with verbal approval, and if there is an unavoidable reason during the vacation, the leave can be extended by phone.
However, the reason why the leave order, which should be recorded normally if he took a vacation, does not exist in Seo's second sick leave remains a question.
"Confirmation is limited," the Ministry of Defense said, whether the couple contacted the Ministry of Defense complaints office in June 2017 to extend their son's vacation.
It is expected that the prosecution's investigation will reveal whether Minister Chu has solicited or applied external pressure for Seo's sick leave, and whether the military applied the regulations arbitrarily.
(Photo = Yonhap News)