"All Posts About Trainee Deaths Deleted and Hidden... Inside Is Even Worse"

Military community 'The Camp' repeatedly deletes posts about trainee deaths
Post written by father of one of six disciplined soldiers also deleted
Netizens outraged... "If they silence like this, the inside must be worse"

The military communication community application 'The Camp,' which is considered an essential app used by military families to send letters online to enlisted soldiers, is becoming controversial. There are suspicions that posts related to a trainee who died after receiving excessive military discipline (eolcharyeo) are being indiscriminately deleted.

On the 30th, a post titled "All posts related to the Army 12th Division, which is in chaos due to the eolcharyeo issue, are being deleted" was uploaded on an online community. The author, Mr. A, claimed, "Many military families are sharing strong veto (rejection) posts and information about the 12th Division incident on The Camp, but every post is being deleted as soon as it is written, and for a while, posting has even been banned as a sanction."

Posts deleted from The Camp's free board display messages such as "This post has been deleted" or "Hidden due to post management regulations." When accessing The Camp's free board, these messages appear repeatedly. Even posts protesting the deletion of posts are immediately removed, making it impossible to find posts related to the trainee's death on the board.

Earlier, on the 29th, The Camp administrator announced through a notice, "The Camp is also saddened and regretful due to the recent series of incidents. However, (some users) are spreading unverified information or using abusive language, causing conflicts," and stated the intention to strengthen board usage rules. Regarding unverified information, this is interpreted as concern over the spread of the identity of a female officer online and on social media after allegations arose that the trainee died after receiving eolcharyeo orders from her.

The Camp also deleted a post by a father of one of the six trainees who received eolcharyeo

Posts related to the deaths of trainees being deleted one after another.
[Photo by The Camp Free Board Archive]

Additionally, The Camp deleted a post by a father of one of the six trainees in the 12th Division. The trainee's father, Mr. B, said, "My son was caught wriggling to go to the bathroom and couldn't say anything," and angrily stated, "Who do you think you are to treat our sons like this? They have been in for less than 10 days, is this how you treat them?" He continued, "Stop talking about population decline," and said, "You can't entrust children anywhere, from daycare to the military. I hate this country where victims' families live in lifelong pain while perpetrators serve only a few years in prison and then live as if nothing happened." Currently, the post has been deleted from the community.

A netizen, Mr. C, who said it has been two weeks since he sent his son to the Army training center, shared, "I feel like my blood is boiling, fearing something might happen to my son too," and added, "If this is the case, why do we have to fulfill our national defense duty? I am disillusioned with the military that does not properly conduct physical examinations and treats genuinely sick soldiers as malingerers. I am afraid my son might lose his life." Other netizens responded with comments such as "Don't silence us by deleting posts," "This is a case with a clear perpetrator, it's disgusting," "If they are silencing like this, how much worse is it inside?" and "Don't delete posts. Let many people know."

The deceased trainee collapsed while receiving military discipline training with five other trainees at the 12th Division training center in Inje, Gangwon Province, around 5:20 p.m. on the 23rd. He was transferred to a hospital but died two days later. According to military discipline training regulations, trainees are only allowed to walk while fully equipped, but it is reported that they were ordered to run, including running in order of arrival.

The deceased trainee's funeral was held on the 28th at a funeral hall in Naju, Jeollanam-do. The company commander who gave the eolcharyeo order was assigned a mentor for psychological state management. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) announced that it will review the matter at the Military Human Rights Subcommittee on the 4th of next month and, after resolution, will begin an ex officio investigation.