Three individuals, including former Incheon Coast Guard Chief Lee Gwangjin, have been indicted in connection with the death in the line of duty of Coast Guard Sergeant Lee Jaeseok (34), on charges such as concealing negligence related to the incident.
On October 31, the investigative team at the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office responsible for the Coast Guard officer’s death announced that former Yeongheung Police Substation team leader, Lieutenant A, has been indicted and detained on charges including professional negligence causing death, dereliction of duty, and falsification of official electronic records. Prosecutors also indicted former Chief Lee and the former head of the Yeongheung Police Substation without detention on charges including abuse of authority and coercion.
Lieutenant A is accused of causing Sergeant Lee’s death on September 11 by failing to comply with Coast Guard regulations, such as the requirement for two-person deployments. It was found that he allowed a break time of six hours-much longer than the regulations permit-resulting in a situation where the minimum number of personnel was not secured, and Sergeant Lee was dispatched alone.
Additionally, Lieutenant A failed to promptly report the situation to the control room or deploy additional rescue personnel at the time of the incident, and he also did not share Sergeant Lee’s location information.
Sergeant Jae-Seok Lee (34) of the Coast Guard, who died in the line of duty, is related to the incident. A former team leader, Lieutenant A, of the Yeongheung Police Substation at Incheon Coast Guard Station, who is accused of professional negligence causing death, completed the pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing) on the 15th and is leaving the Incheon District Court. October 15, 2025. Photo by Yonhap News.
Former Incheon Coast Guard Chief Lee and the former head of the Yeongheung Police Substation are accused of instructing officers at the Yeongheung Police Substation on the day of the incident to remain silent about the Coast Guard’s negligence to the media and other external parties. Investigations revealed that they threatened Sergeant Lee’s fellow officers with disadvantages if they did not comply with this directive.
The former head of the Yeongheung Police Substation and Lieutenant A also falsely recorded in the field work portal system that four officers were dispatched, when in fact only two were sent to rescue Sergeant Lee, and made false entries to conceal violations of break time regulations.
Prosecutors concluded that the incident occurred because Coast Guard regulations and duty management protocols, designed to prevent loss of life, were not properly followed, and therefore indicted all those involved.
A prosecution official stated, "Based on objective evidence, we reconstructed the actions taken on the day of the incident and found there were several opportunities to save Sergeant Lee. However, repeated poor judgment and inadequate response by Lieutenant A resulted in missing the golden time." The official also pointed out the need to improve the systematic sharing of drone location data during Coast Guard rescue operations and to establish joint patrol regulations between drone service providers and the Coast Guard.
On September 11, at approximately 2:07 a.m., Sergeant Lee went out alone in response to a report from a drone patrol company that "a person was sitting in the mudflat," and was later found dead six hours after going missing.
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