Former President of the Korean Medical Association Accuses Company Commander of "Training Soldier Death Case" of Murder Charge... "Indirect Intent"

Legal Community "Difficult to Prove Implied Intent"
Prospects for Applying Negligent Homicide in the Course of Duty

A complaint has been filed requesting punishment for the company commander under investigation in the death of an army trainee on charges of murder by implied intent.

On the 2nd, Choi Dae-jip, former president of the Korean Medical Association, announced that on the 31st of last month, he filed a complaint with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office against the company commander of the Army 12th Division Recruit Training Battalion for murder under the Criminal Act, dereliction of duty, and cruel treatment under the Military Criminal Act.

Dark clouds hang over the guard post of a certain unit in Inje-gun, Gangwon Province, on the 27th of last month.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

In the complaint, former President Choi stated, "The company commander majored in human anatomy, physiology, sports medicine, and exercise physiology at university, so he possessed knowledge of the human body and experience as a military officer," and added, "He must have clearly known that running with full combat gear, push-ups, and first-come-first-served running violated military discipline training regulations."

He continued, "Considering the temperature and weather conditions on the day of the accident, the excessive enforcement of military discipline training could have certainly or at least implicitly been recognized as potentially fatal."

Former President Choi emphasized, "This was not a case of causing death by unintended negligence during normal duties, but rather an act forced with prior definite or implied recognition that it could lead to death, which corresponds to murder with intent to kill."

He also argued that the company commander is suspected of dereliction of duty, given that he failed to assess the patient's condition as a commander, immediately stop the military discipline training, or promptly arrange hospital transfer.

He added, "In a situation where various circumstances such as cruel treatment are emerging, the perpetrator has not even been booked and is said to have gone to his hometown, so I felt that the case should not be left solely to the military and police, which is why I filed the complaint," and urged, "The public must step up to monitor this case."

However, in the legal community, many opinions hold that it is difficult to recognize intent to kill only implicitly, or that it is challenging to determine murder charges based solely on the information currently known.