'Training Soldier Death' Company Commander and Deputy Platoon Leader Sentenced to 5 and 3 Years in First Trial... Bereaved Family Outraged

Court: "Abnormal military discipline training lowers troop morale"
Bereaved family: "What parent could send their child to the military?"

The commander and deputy commander of a company in the Army's 12th Division Recruit Training Battalion, who were accused of ordering a disciplinary training (commonly known as Eolcharyeo) that violated regulations and caused the death of a recruit, were sentenced to five and three years in prison, respectively.

On the 7th, the Criminal Division 2 of Chuncheon District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Seong-rae) sentenced Captain Kang (28) to five years in prison and First Lieutenant Nam (26) to three years in prison on charges of abuse resulting in death and abuse of authority through harsh treatment.

The defendants denied the charges, claiming there was no causal relationship between the disciplinary training and the recruit's death, but the court found them guilty. The court stated, "They carried out harsh disciplinary training unsuitable for the physical conditions of the victims undergoing recruit training," adding, "Such abnormal disciplinary training not only causes personal harm but also lowers military morale and combat readiness, and diminishes public trust in the military, which makes their culpability severe."

A company commander (captain) suspected of conducting military discipline training (physical punishment) in violation of regulations related to the death of a recruit in the Army's 12th Division is leaving the court after completing a pre-trial detention hearing at Chuncheon District Court in Gangwon on June 21 last year. Photo by Yonhap News

However, the court took into consideration favorable factors for the defendants, such as their acknowledgment of the facts and remorseful attitude, the fact that the training was conducted with the intention of educating the victims to establish military discipline, and that the acts were not committed with malice or the intent to cause pain.

Additionally, the court explained that Kang’s criminal deposit for the victims was only partially considered as an effort to restore damages, since the victims’ side expressed no intention to receive the deposit.

Both were tried for conducting disciplinary training that violated regulations on six recruits at the 12th Division Recruit Training Battalion in Inje County, Gangwon Province, on May 23 of last year, and for failing to properly respond to recruit Park, who fainted, resulting in his death.

After the verdict was announced, the mother of the late recruit Park expressed her outrage, saying, "If a child who was supposed to prepare and live for another 100 years is killed and the punishment is only five and three years in prison, who would dedicate their whole body to training in the military, and what parent would send their child to the military?" She added, "There can be no such light sentence for killing a person."