Hai Phong military school chief admits to sexual harassment of student

The public university announced on Monday that Pham The Dung, head of the military department at its Defense and Security Education Center, has been suspended.

It will proceed to take further action against him, it has said in a report to city authorities.

An accusation against Dung was first posted online that a male officer had spoken to a student on the phone using vulgar, sex-laced language.

The student is a sophomore girl who joined 134 other students at the university for a mandatory three-week military course at the center.

Dung admitted he had called her on a number of occasions during the duration, which ended on June 17.

The school then launched its own investigation and Dung stuck to his confession.

Established in 2003, the Defense and Security Education Center also organizes training courses for students at colleges and universities in other northern localities.

In Vietnam, military training is mandatory for all college and university students.

The country does not treat sexual harrassment as a criminal offense.