Credit: Public domain.
Although the drowning death of marine corporal Chae Su-geun 채수근 has become a leading political issue, it was not the only senseless recent death in the South Korean military. (See previous coverage, “Corporal Death a Growing Liability for Yoon.”) The last week of May saw a string of deaths in South Korea’s conscription-based army. On May 21, a grenade exploded during a training exercise for the 32nd Infantry Division 제32보병사단, killing a new recruit and injuring the commander of his platoon. On May 27 and 29, two army officers were found dead in apparent suicides.
The greatest public outrage has attended the death of a new recruit from the 12th Infantry Division. The recruit collapsed on May 23 after being ordered to run and do push-ups while wearing full tactical gear, which weighs up to 25 kilograms (55 pounds), and died two days later. Although the South Korean military’s internal manual prohibits running or push-ups while wearing full gear, the recruit was ordered to do so as punishment for talking in his barracks at night. The recruit showed signs of heat stroke and rhabdomyolysis, in which muscle tissues rapidly disintegrate because of excessive physical strain and exertion.
The string of deaths shows the retrograde organizational culture of the South Korean military, which places a higher priority on putting on a show of toughness than on the lives and wellbeing of its soldiers. The investigation of Corporal Chae’s death has revealed that the marines were not given any safety equipment while conducting a search mission in a flooded river, because General and Division Commander Im Seong-geun 임성근 사단장 wanted the marines to wear their standard red t-shirts to emphasize their presence for the press.
Although Im has blamed his subordinates for ordering the unsafe search operation, he has nevertheless defended the legality of the order: “Soldiers are trained to die for their country without complaints. The difference between the police and the military is, the police are allowed to save themselves if they are in danger, but the military must follow orders, even if doing so will kill them.”
