Two South Korean Intelligence Officers Charged With Raping North Korean Defector

Two officers with South Korea's Armed Forces Intelligence Command were indicted on charges of raping a North Korean defector.

The officers, who were not identified, were accused of raping the victim multiple times for nine months. She was reportedly impregnated twice and was forced to undergo abortions.

A Defence Intelligence Command lieutenant colonel was facing adultery and “coercion” charges while a master sergeant was charged with adultery, sexual assault, and rape, UPI.com reported, citing a statement by the South Korean defense ministry Tuesday.

The crimes were reportedly committed between May 2018 and February 2019 when the woman was said to be under their protection and supervision for espionage operations.

The officers were working to obtain the information that the victim had about North Korea’s Kim Jong Un regime and demanded she retrieve "internal information from North Korea" from a younger sibling in the North, according to UPI.com.

She was reportedly forced by the second officer to drink alcohol before he raped her. Following the assault, the victim sought help from the first officer, who denied her help and sexually assaulted her.

The suspects were being investigated by the military prosecution as early as December after the victim brought charges against them, according to a report by The Korea Herald. The Defense Ministry’s Criminal Investigation Command in late November transferred the cases to the military prosecution and the officers were placed on administrative leave.

North Korean women being sexually abused at the hands of South Korean officers became increasingly common over a few months. In July, South Korea's National Police Agency had launched an investigation into an officer who was accused of raping a North Korean woman at least a dozen times. The victim alerted the assault to the authorities but struggled to find justice.