Reform New Party Reveals Real Name of 'Drill Sergeant'... "The People's Right to Know"

Reform New Party Supreme Councilor Lee Gi-in
Through His SNS: "Clear Torture... Treating Soldiers as Disposable"

Regarding the death of a trainee during disciplinary training at the 12th Division training center in Inje, Gangwon Province, Lee Ki-in, a Supreme Council member of the Reform New Party, publicly revealed the name of the company commander held responsible for the 'trainee death incident' and urged a prompt investigation.

According to his Facebook post on the 2nd, Lee wrote on the 31st of last month, "A young man who dreamed of becoming a nurse returned as a cold corpse just ten days after enlistment," adding, "A country where military violence perpetrators receive psychological counseling. There is no future for a country that treats its soldiers as disposable."

Lee Gi-in, Supreme Council Member of the Reform New Party. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

He criticized, "(The company commander) forced the trainee to carry a 40kg full combat load, equivalent to the weight of two sacks of rice, under the scorching midsummer sun, adding extra books and belongings. He also made them run in a relay and do push-ups while wearing the combat gear," and continued, "Amazingly, all this was ordered mercilessly by the company commander solely because the trainee 'talked in the training center.'"

He added, "Even in the backward military of the 1990s, such harsh torture was not inflicted on newly enlisted trainees," and said, "Back then, day and night marches were conducted with half loads considering soldiers' health, but a 40kg full combat load combined with relay running is not training but clear torture."

Lee also strongly condemned the government's and military's response. He stated, "The military announced that they assigned a mentor to the company commander, not the victim's family, to manage and protect his psychological state," and emphasized, "Does this make sense? Since when has our military been so concerned about the psychological state of military violence perpetrators? What the company commander needs is not psychological care but a thorough investigation to clarify why he tormented the trainee in such a brutal manner and whether there were other victims."

He went as far as to disclose the company commander's real name. Lee said, "Promptly review Captain OOO of the Eulji Unit, 12th Division, and change his status to suspect," and urged, "Stop the absurd psychological counseling immediately and conduct a detention investigation to meticulously uncover the truth of the incident. I hope the suspicions of bullying other trainees from previous cohorts, which have been circulating, are thoroughly investigated."

Regarding the disclosure of the real name, he posted later the same day, explaining, "A company commander typically commands hundreds of soldiers and is a public official," and added, "I believe that the public position and name of a person involved in an incident that has outraged the entire nation need to be disclosed in the interest of the public's right to know. This is my conviction."

Earlier, the Army announced on the 23rd of last month around 5:20 p.m. that one of six trainees undergoing military discipline training at a unit in Inje, Gangwon Province, had collapsed. The collapsed trainee was transported to a civilian hospital for treatment but his condition worsened, and he died on the afternoon of the 25th, two days later. It is known that the deceased trainee had been running and doing push-ups while wearing full combat gear.

A military source said regarding the autopsy results of the deceased trainee, "It is understood that some symptoms similar to rhabdomyolysis were observed." Rhabdomyolysis is a condition where skeletal muscle cells break down or die due to excessive muscle exertion, extreme heat, trauma, or other causes, leading to kidney blockage and damage.