The court ruled that it was justified to discipline the coast guard officer with 'suspension' for repeatedly engaging in drinking parties and squid fishing while performing maritime patrol duties.
According to the legal community on the 3rd, the Administrative Division 6 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Chief Judge Najin Yi) ruled against the plaintiff in the first trial of the lawsuit filed by Coast Guard Officer A against the Korea Coast Guard for the cancellation of the suspension.
Officer A was suspended for two months and fined 675,000 won in January 2023 for violating the National Public Service Act and other regulations.
According to the coast guard's investigation, Officer A, who was in charge of accounting, drank alcohol four times during the duty period and purchased alcohol using the amount that was supposed to cover specific food items and quantities. It was reported that during this process, the crew's meal expenses were misappropriated for alcohol purchases.
Additionally, Officer A was found to have gone squid fishing twice during the duty period, and to cover this up, he reportedly obscured the rear CCTV of the boat with a rag.
Other disciplinary reasons included Officer A directing the ship's chefs to falsely testify about the circumstances surrounding the import of alcohol, as well as ignoring and assisting the crew in receiving catch, such as skate and flatfish, from Chinese fishermen during an inspection of a Chinese fishing vessel in April 2022.
Thus, Officer A filed an administrative lawsuit on May 30, arguing that the two-month suspension was unfair, but the first trial did not accept this.
The court stated, 'Coast guard officials must safeguard maritime sovereignty and maintain maritime safety and law enforcement order,' adding that 'personnel on patrol vessels, who must rapidly respond to various situations such as territorial intrusions and large-scale casualties, must possess a higher level of responsibility and strict work discipline.'
Furthermore, the court noted, 'Officer A not only engaged in deviant acts such as drinking and fishing on board during the duty period but also misappropriated the budget to bring alcohol on board and directed relevant parties to provide false testimonies. Such actions fall under serious violations of duty and gross negligence.'