The Ministry of Defense is suspected of making a profit by selling videos made by its celebrity soldiers to their fans, an online news outlet in Seoul reported Friday.

According to the eDaily, all “entertainment soldiers” are required to take an oath to uphold their duties, and the fourth clause of the oath states that the soldiers should give up all the intellectual rights of products they make during their service. Entertainment soldiers are those serving in an army unit that provides TV and radio programming aimed at promoting the military.

The fourth clause reads: “I consent to the South Korean government (the Ministry of Defense) claiming all intellectual rights of those that I produce as a member of the Defense Media Agency, including copyright, selling rights, and rights to use my image (in the products).”

The eDaily claimed that the military sold films and other videos made by these celebrity soldiers to outsiders, mostly to their fans.

Some argued that the military is abusing its soldiers to make money.

A South Korean lawyer was quoted as saying that such breach of property rights can interpreted as violation of human rights. He pointed out that the constitution clearly states the country, if necessary, should minimize the violation of its citizens’ rights.

The DEMA said the cited clause had already been cleared by the legal experts at the Defense Ministry, according to the eDaily.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)