Supreme Court Reverses Precedent: Insulting Superior Among Soldiers Not Deemed 'Superior Insult'

The Supreme Court has ruled that a captain who swore at a superior in front of several soldiers and said, "If he wasn't a military man, I would have beaten him," cannot be punished for the crime of insulting a superior.

The Supreme Court's Third Division overturned the original ruling that sentenced 32-year-old Captain A, who was indicted on charges of insulting a superior and assault, to one year in prison with two years of probation, and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court.

Captain A was indicted for uttering profanity while referring to his superior, Major B, in November 2023 at the administrative office of his unit in the presence of four or five soldiers.

According to the investigation, expressing dissatisfaction with Major B's instructions, Captain A made remarks such as, "He doesn't even know how the company is running, yet he yells at me (or uses profanity)," and "If he wasn't a soldier, I would have already beaten him."

He also made remarks to the effect of, "He forgets what he said an hour ago," and "Does he have some kind of illness?" regarding Major B.

Captain A also faced charges of assault for grabbing another person by the collar inside the unit in February of the following year.

The first and second instances both found him guilty of the assault charge and the charge of insulting a superior regarding some of the remarks, sentencing him to one year in prison with two years of probation.

However, the Supreme Court's judgment was different.

Under the Military Criminal Act, the crime of insulting a superior applies when someone publicly posts documents or drawings, gives a speech, or insults a superior through "other public methods," and is punishable by up to three years in prison or imprisonment without prison labor.

The key issue was the meaning of "public method." Previously, the Supreme Court had ruled that if profanity was uttered in a state where unspecified or multiple people could perceive it, the crime of insulting a superior could be established.

However, last July, the Supreme Court's full bench changed this precedent for the first time in 27 years.

It ruled that it is not enough that multiple people could hear it; punishment is only possible if the superior is insulted through a method that publicly conveys the insult to many people, akin to publicly posting documents or drawings or giving a speech.

The revised precedent was applied to this case as well.

The Supreme Court judged that Captain A's remarks were merely heard by a few soldiers working or passing by nearby, and there was no evidence to suggest they were expressed in a way that would unilaterally and publicly convey the message to multiple service members or cause it to spread repeatedly.

(Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Ahn Jun-hyeok | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.