Police referred two Army company commanders to prosecutors Thursday for further investigation and potential indictment in connection with the death of a trainee soldier last month following a grueling disciplinary training session.
The company and deputy company commanders affiliated with the 12th Infantry Division in Inje, 126 kilometers northeast of Seoul, are accused of illegally subjecting six recruits to a disciplinary session on May 23, resulting in the death of one of them.
They allegedly neglected the mandatory procedures required for a disciplinary session, including giving the trainees a chance to explain themselves and checking the temperature of the training field and the trainees’ health conditions. The session was imposed as a penalty on the trainees for being noisy after a bed check.
The soldiers were made to run around a training ground and perform pushups while carrying full combat gear and holding rifles. They were ordered to partially fill their combat backpacks with books because the tr
ainees had not yet received all their military gear.
In the middle of the session, the trainee collapsed, but the commanders did not immediately provide emergency medical care. Two days later, the trainee died at a civilian hospital of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome caused by heatstroke.
The Gangwon Provincial Police Agency said that the suspects were referred to the prosecution under physical detention on charges of professional negligence resulting in death, abuse of authority and cruel treatment of trainees.
Source: Yonhap News Agency