Authorities are investigating nude photos of Korean riot policemen that are circulating in cyberspace, some evoking queasy memories of the Abu Ghraib scandal by suggesting the subjects could have been forced to pose by senior officers. One of the pictures looks as if it was taken after the subjects masturbated.
Gangwon Provincial Police said Friday the photos, taken in the barracks of the 307 Riot Police Battalion of Gangneung Police Department, show six members of the unit posing nude for the cameras.
Gangwon Police has called the six to Chuncheon, where they will be questioned to determine whether they acted under duress from senior policemen or suffered other forms of personal humiliation. The pictures come at a sensitive time for Korea¡¯s security forces after an enlisted man ran amok in the DMZ, apparently goaded by incessant bullying from senior comrades.
Gangwon police say the photos were taken in early September last year and uploaded from a computer in the unit¡¯s lounge onto a Cyworld blog by a 23-year-old identified as Cho, who was discharged from the unit on Sept. 26. But the photos only recently spread around the Internet, police said. As of 3:00 p.m. Friday, Cho's blog was down.
However, Gangwon police said the taking of nude photos was a time-honored practice in the barracks of the unit when members were promoted. Since it appears that the subjects are smiling and laughing, it seems unlikely that they posed under duress, police said.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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