'Death of Trainee During Drill' Indictment Obtained
Detailed Description of Military Discipline Training in Parade Ground
Statements from Company Commander A and Deputy Commander B Included
Regarding the case of the late trainee Park Tae-in, who died while undergoing military discipline training (eolchalyeo) in full combat gear, the prosecution stated in the indictment that “the defendants (Company Commander A and Deputy Company Commander B) conspired to abuse and cause the death of a victim under their protection or supervision.”
On the 16th, Asia Economy obtained the indictment from the Chuncheon District Prosecutors’ Office Criminal Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Oh Se-moon) concerning the “trainee eolchalyeo death case,” which details the military discipline training process that took place on May 23 at the training ground of the 12th Infantry Division Recruit Training Center in Inje, Gangwon Province. The indictment includes statements made by Company Commander A and Deputy Company Commander B to the victims during the 45-minute military discipline training.
According to the indictment, five trainees who were called out during the evening roll call the previous day for failing to follow orders had to undergo military discipline training in full combat gear from 4:26 p.m. until trainee Park collapsed at 5:11 p.m.
On June 19th, a soldier is paying tribute to the deceased at the memorial incense altar set up by the 12th Army Division trainee Park at Yongsan Station Plaza in Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]
On that day, Deputy Company Commander B made the victims walk two laps around the training ground (one lap measuring 317 meters) while wearing approximately 32 kg of full combat gear (including 25 kg of gear plus helmet and rifle) starting from 4:26 p.m. The reason was the failure to follow orders during the previous evening’s roll call.
At 4:35 p.m., Company Commander A appeared and said, “Not following the deputy company commander’s orders is the same as not following my orders,” and made the victims do three push-ups in full combat gear and run four laps around the training ground in a first-come, first-served manner. During this process, when a book fell out of one victim’s gear, he said, “Don’t you know how to pack your gear? Is your physical strength only this much?” and told Deputy Company Commander B, “Make them run all day today.”
In particular, Deputy Company Commander B repeatedly made victim C run back and forth about 60 meters from the reviewing stand to the national flagpole, and when C collapsed, he reportedly said, “Do you want to show that you are breaking military law?” and made victim C do push-ups, according to the prosecution.
The prosecution stated in the indictment, “The defendants conspired to abuse their general authority over approximately 45 minutes, inflicting mental and physical suffering through harsh acts.” Accordingly, they applied charges of abuse resulting in death for trainee Park, who died from multiple organ failure due to heatstroke, and charges of abuse of authority for harsh acts against the other four victims excluding Park. The prosecution viewed that Company Commander A “approved the execution of the military discipline training without properly verifying whether the procedural requirements under military training regulations were met.”
The Chuncheon District Court’s 2nd Criminal Division (Presiding Judge Kim Seong-rae) will hold the first trial for Company Commander A and Deputy Company Commander B on the same day. Initially, the police had sent them for prosecution on charges of professional negligence resulting in death (imprisonment up to 5 years), but the prosecution applied the heavier charge of abuse resulting in death (imprisonment from 3 to 30 years) and brought them to trial.
Meanwhile, when asked for their opinion on the prosecution’s indictment, the defendants’ lawyers had not responded by the morning of the 16th.
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