Two Army officers blamed for soldier's death during punishment drill

Defense

Published: 28 May. 2024, 17:17

Two Army officers blamed for soldier's death during punishment drill

A military police vehicle on Monday enters the compound of an army division in Inje, Gangwon, where a soldier passed out on Thursday during a disciplinary drill. The soldier was pronounced dead on Saturday. [YONHAP]

Military investigators on Tuesday accused two military officers of being responsible for the death of a soldier who died two days after he collapsed during a disciplinary drill last Thursday.

The military’s internal investigation team alleged that a captain and a first lieutenant abused their power and committed occupational negligence resulting in death, by ordering subordinate conscripts to undergo excessive activity.

The Korean Army referred the case and records to the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency on Tuesday. The military will submit CCTV footage of Thursday’s drill to the police.

The two military officials reportedly made six conscripts do push-ups and run approximately 1.5 kilometers (0.93 miles) while carrying full packs of equipment at midday Thursday as punishment for causing noise in their dormitory Wednesday night.

Ordering soldiers in full kit to do push-ups or run and walk over a kilometer as a punitive measure flouts Korean Army regulations.

The victim collapsed on Thursday around 5:20 p.m. during the training drill in Inje, Gangwon, and was pronounced dead on Saturday after his condition worsened.

The dead soldier reportedly showed “symptoms of rhabdomyolysis,” a muscle-damaging illness often induced by excessive physical exercise or high fever, an anonymous officer from the Korean Army said Tuesday.

The source said additional analysis will be carried out to determine the precise cause of his death.

According to a report from Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday, the state-run health agency registered the fallen soldier as a heatstroke patient when he was hospitalized.

An anonymous official from the state-managed Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency told Yonhap that “this year’s first casualty of heat-related illness appears to be the soldier who recently passed out during military training.”

A weather report from the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said the temperatures at 5 p.m. in Inje, Gangwon, hit 27.4 degrees Celsius (81.3 degrees Fahrenheit).

According to the Center of Military Human Rights on Tuesday, the soldier had a body temperature of over 40 degrees Celsius when he first arrived at the hospital, and he was breathing two times faster than usual.

The center denounced the two accused officers, calling the soldier's death a “manmade disaster caused by treating the soldier as if he was faking his illness.”

According to a statement released by the center on Monday, the two officers dismissed a report from the victim’s fellow soldier that the individual in question appeared ill during the drill.

“The investigation has found an irregularity in the process of ordering the disciplinary drill,” Seo Woo-suk, a spokesman of the Korean Army, said during a regular briefing on Tuesday.

Seo added that the military will “proactively cooperate with the police investigation to ascertain the truth.”

The military classified his death as a line-of-duty death and posthumously promoted him to lance corporal.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]