A man in his 20s who received a suspended prison sentence in the first trial for insulting superiors by making inappropriate remarks about female officers in the military has been acquitted in his appeal, based on a recently revised Supreme Court precedent.

The 1st Criminal Division of the Jeju District Court announced today (October 15) that it overturned the lower court's sentence of six months in prison suspended for one year against the defendant in his 20s, identified as A, who had been indicted on charges of insulting a superior, and instead found him not guilty.

A was put on trial on charges of making insulting remarks a total of 12 times against four superiors, including a company commander, platoon commander, and squad leader, within the barracks and other areas while serving in an Army unit between September 2024 and June 2025.

Investigations showed that three of the victims were women, and that A had also made sexually derogatory remarks multiple times.

Previously, the first-instance court sentenced him to a suspended prison term, stating, "He made remarks targeting superiors as sexual objects or disparaging them on multiple occasions, the severity is not light, and he has not been forgiven by the victims."

The prosecutor subsequently appealed on the grounds of unfair sentencing, and the appellate court reviewed the case ex officio, overturning the original verdict and acquitting him based on a recently modified Supreme Court precedent.

Previously in July, the Supreme Court's full bench changed a 1999 Supreme Court precedent concerning the crime of insulting a superior for the first time in 27 years.

The full bench ruled that the crime of insulting a superior is not established simply because a superior is insulted in a state where unspecified or multiple persons can perceive it.

It ruled that the crime is established only when the method of insult is public to a degree corresponding to or equivalent to the examples listed in the legal provision, such as "publicly displaying documents, drawings, or effigies, or giving a speech."

The appellate court stated, "The defendant made the remarks impulsively while venting frustrations during private conversations with a peer during bedtime or rest hours. For the crime of insulting a superior to be established, it must be done through public methods, rather than through simple conversations."

(Photo: Yonhap News)