"5·21" is a unique love festival in our country, and it is also a statutory anniversary of romantic love in South Korea. It is called "Couple's Day" by locals. The most shocking thing is that in the suicide video she recorded, she exposed her experience of being molested and sexu

Text | Film Documentary

Editor | Film Documentary

Foreword

"5·21" is a unique love festival in our country, and it is also a statutory anniversary of romantic love in South Korea. It is called by the locals It's "Couple's Day".

However, on May 21, 2021, the female soldier of the South Korean Air Force Li Yelin chose to hang herself in the base dormitory after she and her boyfriend received their marriage certificate.

The most shocking thing is that in the suicide video she recorded, she exposed her experience of being molested and sexually assaulted by her superiors in the army.

How did this military sexual assault case that shocked the entire South Korea last year happen? Who is responsible for Li Yilin's death?

Li Yilin

01. Desperate experience

"Now my body has become dirty, and as for my death, all of them are perpetrators."

This is what Li Yilin said in the suicide video recorded. In the

video, she looked particularly broken, with pain and despair written all over her face, and she choked repeatedly while speaking.

However, the day she chose to end her life was her wedding day to her boyfriend.

Just a few hours before committing suicide, she and her boyfriend went to a high-end restaurant to dine with the marriage certificate they had just received.

"She didn't look unhappy at all that day. She was always smiling. I really didn't think that she would commit suicide. We both just received the certificate..."

When talking about Li Yilin's suicide, her boyfriend also felt extremely painful.

Li Yilin's parents almost fainted and fell to the ground after learning the bad news that their daughter had committed suicide. They never thought that their daughter would die in the army she had dreamed of.

Everything starts with Li Yilin joining the army.

Li Yilin received the certificate with her boyfriend

Li Yilin wanted to become a soldier since she was a child.

In the end, through her own efforts, she successfully entered the 20th Fighter Wing of the South Korean Air Force and became a female air force member.

Li Yelin has always been proud of being able to join this force, because this force ranks high in strength and has participated in South Korea-US joint military exercises. It is the trump card in the hands of the South Korean military.

However, what she didn't expect was that after joining this army as a girl, she would not get the recognition and respect of the superiors in the army, but instead get malice and ridicule.

What is most unbelievable to Li Yilin is that this career that she thought would be the pride of her life actually brought her to the darkest moment of her life.

In the suicide video, Li Yilin once again mentioned the night that plunged her into despair.

It was the evening of March 2, 2021. Li Yilin’s boss, Warrant Officer Lu, found her and invited her to a private party.

Li Yilin, who noticed something strange in her heart, rejected Warrant Officer Lu's invitation on the spot. However, Warrant Officer Lu's expression changed at this time and said to her viciously:

"This is the order I gave you. If you don't go, be careful as I follow you." You settle the score."

Faced with the strong pressure from her boss, Li Yilin couldn't refuse again, so she reluctantly agreed to the invitation.

When she arrived at the venue, Li Yilin discovered that the number of people present plus her was 5. However, according to the Korean epidemic prevention policy at the time, a gathering could not exceed 4 people. Obviously, this was a dinner party that violated the regulations.

In addition, Sergeant Zhang, whom Li Yilin usually hates the most, was also present at this party.

This made her even more disgusted with everything at the party, and she wanted to escape from here immediately.

Finally, this long party came to an end when Warrant Officer Lu and others became drunk at the wine table.

At this time, Li Yilin just wanted to drive away from this frivolous Meng Lang's dining place. Unexpectedly, the drunk Sergeant Zhang staggered towards her and asked her to take her back to the base on the grounds that she was too drunk to drive. .

The other three people who had been partying together drove home separately. The helpless Li Yilin had no choice but to take the drunkard into the car. However, when the car drove into a no-man's land, Sergeant Zhang asked Li Yilin to slow down and stop.

Just when she thought Sergeant Zhang wanted to get out of the car to sober up, Sergeant Zhang showed an ugly face, pinned her down on the seat, and then raped her.

This night's unfortunate experience made Li Yilin fall into helplessness and collapse.

After returning to the base, she began to think about everything she had encountered after joining the army, and couldn't help but feel that everything in front of her was so gloomy.

02. The Devil in the Army

"Beauty seems to have become a sin at some point."

When Li Yilin first joined the Air Force, she could feel that the attitude of the male soldiers in the army towards her was often excessive. Enthusiastic, they always like to be around her and even have physical contact with her inadvertently.

At first she thought this was the "seniors" in the army taking care of her as a newcomer, but then she discovered that these people's words and deeds had already constituted harassment to her.

In order to make herself feel the discomfort caused by these harassments again, Li Yilin disclosed the information in the army that she had a boyfriend whom she had been in love with for many years, and even declined many dinner invitations sent to her by male soldiers.

However, she later discovered that there were still male soldiers quietly joking about her in private, and even pointing at her figure.

What frightened her the most was that she was forced to attend a party sponsored by her boss.

Photos of Li Yilin in the army

As a subordinate, it is difficult for Li Yilin to refuse a party sent by her boss.

However, in the few parties she attended, she was always verbally teased by the men at the party. The most egregious one was Sergeant Zhang, who not only spoke obscene words, but also reached out to touch her.

Li Yilin resisted at the party, and even once publicly criticized Sergeant Zhang's behavior. However, other men present would help Sergeant Zhang smooth things over and say:

"He just drank too much. He didn't mean it."

Li Yilin naturally She would not believe these people's lies, and she also understood what kind of bad intentions these people had in their hearts. However, for the sake of her current position, she could only choose to endure it.

What she didn't expect was that the cowardly Sergeant Zhang would rape her in the car.

Pictures from the Internet

Feeling deeply aggrieved, Li Yilin found Warrant Officer Lu and reported what Sergeant Zhang had done the next day after returning to the base.

However, Warrant Officer Lu's attitude at this time surprised her.

Warrant Officer Lu said to her: "Don't make this matter public, it will not do you any good."

After listening to Li Yilin's report, Warrant Officer Lu had no intention of solving the problem or seeking justice for her. , instead he just threatened her with a gloomy face.

Li Yilin, who was threatened by her boss, later realized that her unfortunate experience happened after a dinner party hosted by Warrant Officer Lu, and the party itself violated the epidemic prevention requirements.

If Warrant Officer Lu reported this matter, it would definitely affect his future.

Simulation Scenario

After understanding that Warrant Officer Lu would not help her, Li Yilin immediately copied the crime process captured by the driving recorder and chose to report the incident to the Military Police Department.

She thought that her bravery would allow Sergeant Zhang to be punished for his crimes.

However, the next development of the situation made her feel particularly terrible.

Simulation Scenario

03. Hasty Investigation

The military and police department took action quickly after receiving Li Yilin's report.

However, their first step was not to investigate Sergeant Zhang, but to investigate Li Yilin.

Military and Police Department investigators repeatedly asked Li Yilin to recall the unfortunate experience that night, which caused her to repeatedly fall into emotional breakdown and anxiety.

It was only 15 days after the incident that the Military and Police Department found Sergeant Zhang for investigation.

After receiving the investigation result from Sergeant Zhang, "I drank too much and can't remember anything," the Military Police Department immediately restored his freedom.

In the end, the result of this hastily concluded investigation was that Sergeant Zhang was transferred to other positions, and his salary remained the same as before.

This scumbag did not receive any punishment.

This made Li Yilin very angry and collapsed. She decided to insist on filing a complaint against Sergeant Zhang.

However, the Military and Police Department has repeatedly covered up this vicious case out of protection of the image of the Air Force.

After that, people from the Military and Police Department approached Li Yilin to do ideological work.

The content of these ideological work is nothing more than asking her to withdraw the accusation, cooperate with the investigation results of the army, and finally settle the matter.

Li Yilin certainly would not choose to accept such a result.

However, after that, she received threats from the Military and Police Department. They claimed that if Li Yilin did not withdraw the complaint, they would tell her parents and boyfriend everything that happened to her.

Simulation scenario

At the same time, Li Yilin received multiple harassing calls and text messages from Sergeant Zhang. Not only did the villain

fail to reflect on his crimes, he even spoke nonsense on the phone, claiming that his backstage was very tough and that if Li Yilin insisted on continuing the trouble, he would make Li Yilin die in an ugly way.

Under heavy pressure, Li Yilin gradually fell into collapse, and she began to rely on drugs to treat her mental illness.

However, everything that happened that night appeared repeatedly in her mind.

Two months after the incident, Li Yilin received a notice from the army, ordering her to be transferred to the 15th Fighter Wing.

The picture comes from the Internet

At this time, Li Yilin's psychological condition has reached an extremely fragile and morbid state.

The new environment and new interpersonal relationships did not make her get better, but instead worsened her condition.

Although people from the Military and Police Department have tried their best to suppress this case, the fact that Li Yilin was violated has spread throughout the army, and everyone will point fingers at her when they see her.

The new team did not take into account Li Yilin's emotional state that needed treatment at this time. Instead, they assigned her more arduous work and required her to adapt as soon as possible to this work arrangement that was beyond her normal size.

When Li Yilin returns to her dormitory after a tiring day's work, she often sees her bed littered with garbage.

These undoubtedly prove that she has suffered isolation and exclusion from others in this army.

May 21 was four days after she returned to the army. This was the day Li Yilin and her boyfriend had already decided to receive the certificate.

In fact, before receiving the certificate, Li Yilin comforted herself that maybe her life would get better, and the scars left by these encounters would definitely be healed by time.

However, when she saw her marriage certificate, her subconscious reaction was that her body had been tainted, and the entire army was so gloomy that she did not have the courage to start a new life again.

As a result, she suffered an emotional breakdown and finally chose to commit suicide, ending her young life with her own hands.

The most distressing thing is that Li Yilin was actually threatened by more than one boss.

Although the sad Li Yilin has left this world, she still has parents who love her and want to seek justice for their daughter.

html On May 31, Li Yelin’s father published a petition on the Blue House website.

In this petition, the father makes serious accusations against the people mentioned in the video of his daughter's suicide.

So how will the Korean government respond to this matter?

Petition

04. The chief of staff stepped down and the president apologized

Once this petition was issued, it instantly aroused excitement among the Korean people.

In just two days, nearly 400,000 Korean people jointly launched a protest and held street demonstrations at the same time, demanding that relevant departments deal with the bad guys seriously.

As public dissatisfaction boiled, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense finally paid attention to the matter. It took only two days to arrest Sergeant Zhang and others, and finally sentenced Sergeant Zhang to nine years in prison for "sexual assault".

However, after the Ministry of National Defense dealt with Sergeant Zhang, the public was not satisfied with the verdict. At the same time, they also questioned the internal management system and safety level of the South Korean military.

After all, the military is the protector of the country. However, now that such a bad case has occurred in the military, how can the people trust the government of this country?

Sergeant Zhang was captured

Finally, on June 4, 2021, Lee Cheng-ryong, the chief of staff of the South Korean Air Force, resigned due to his unfavorable handling of the sexual assault case.

Just two days after the chief of staff stepped down, former South Korean President Moon Jae-in publicly apologized. In his apology, he said:

"I want to apologize for the bad cultural habits of the military camp that led to the innocent deaths of soldiers, and I also want to say sorry to the people. ”

At the meeting on the second day, Moon Jae-in once again expressed his position on the Air Force sexual assault case, requiring relevant departments to formulate relevant policies to improve the culture and style of military barracks under public supervision.

However, what makes people feel helpless is that despite this series of apologies, dismissals and rectifications, in the second month after the Li Yelin sexual assault case, another female Korean navy officer was suspected of being sexually assaulted by a colleague in the military. suicide .

This is the second suicide of a female soldier in the South Korean army this year after reporting sexual assault. It has also attracted widespread attention from the South Korean people. Moon Jae-in has once again ordered the Ministry of National Defense to thoroughly investigate the matter.

Moon Jae-in mourns the deceased

The frequent occurrence of sexual assault cases in the South Korean military seems to have become a consensus.

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense once presented this data: From 2015 to June 2020, a total of 4,936 sexual crimes were filed as military criminal cases in the military, which is equivalent to an average of nearly 18 sexual crimes per week.

Although in 2018, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense has established a "Gender Equality Committee" in the military, it has also been promoting reforms in the internal management system and military style of the military.

However, looking at it now, the number of victims who have suffered unfortunate experiences remains high.

This makes people very suspicious of how the Korean Ministry of National Defense is advancing the rectification of military camps, and whether it is really effective?

Epilogue

The experience of South Korean female air force Li Yelin is undoubtedly unfortunate.

The most distressing thing is that there are still other "Li Yilin" in the world.

After some cases were exposed, the bad guys were punished by law, while some cases are still in the darkness and are not known to the world.

Destroying the darkness is certainly not something that can be accomplished overnight. However, if we do not speak out for the people who have been harmed and do not fight against the darkness, then we will eventually be in the darkness.

hopes that the exposure of cases like Li Yilin's will once again draw our attention to women's safety issues, and ultimately enable us to better safeguard women's rights and interests.

I sincerely hope that everyone will dare to fight against darkness and be magnanimous people with a sense of justice!

As long as each of us opens our hearts to the sunshine, then the darkness of reality will become less and less until it disappears forever!