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| Outrage Builds in South Korea in Deadly Abuse of a Soldier | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| SEOUL, South Korea — The soldiers beat the 20-year-old private almost every day for more than a month. They flogged him with a mop handle until it broke. They made him eat toothpaste and lick their spittle off the floor. At one point, when he became groggy, they hooked him up to an intravenous drip, gave him nutrients and then, when he seemed to regain energy, they kicked and punched him some more. | SEOUL, South Korea — The soldiers beat the 20-year-old private almost every day for more than a month. They flogged him with a mop handle until it broke. They made him eat toothpaste and lick their spittle off the floor. At one point, when he became groggy, they hooked him up to an intravenous drip, gave him nutrients and then, when he seemed to regain energy, they kicked and punched him some more. |
| According to South Korean Army investigators, the abuse finally ended on April 6, when the victim, who has been identified only as Private First Class Yoon, collapsed, choking on a piece of food during a beating. He was pronounced dead at a hospital the next day. | According to South Korean Army investigators, the abuse finally ended on April 6, when the victim, who has been identified only as Private First Class Yoon, collapsed, choking on a piece of food during a beating. He was pronounced dead at a hospital the next day. |
| The army issued a terse news release, saying that a soldier had died after choking while being beaten. The military indicted four soldiers on charges of inflicting bodily injury resulting in death, and 16 others were reprimanded. | The army issued a terse news release, saying that a soldier had died after choking while being beaten. The military indicted four soldiers on charges of inflicting bodily injury resulting in death, and 16 others were reprimanded. |
| The case at first drew little notice in South Korea — just another sad episode, it seemed, in an army where physical abuse was tolerated, if not officially approved, in the name of toughening a conscript army to face North Korea. | The case at first drew little notice in South Korea — just another sad episode, it seemed, in an army where physical abuse was tolerated, if not officially approved, in the name of toughening a conscript army to face North Korea. |
| But that changed last week, after a human rights group published the details from the army’s internal investigation, along with photos of Private Yoon’s body covered with bruises and gashes. The report prompted a public outcry, joined this week by President Park Geun-hye, expressing the widespread frustration that the army had not ended the culture of violence within its ranks. | But that changed last week, after a human rights group published the details from the army’s internal investigation, along with photos of Private Yoon’s body covered with bruises and gashes. The report prompted a public outcry, joined this week by President Park Geun-hye, expressing the widespread frustration that the army had not ended the culture of violence within its ranks. |
| “For decades, the military has promised to correct this problem whenever an incident like this happened, but it keeps recurring,” Ms. Park said at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. “We must thoroughly investigate the perpetrators, and those who turned a blind eye, and punish them as a warning to others.” | “For decades, the military has promised to correct this problem whenever an incident like this happened, but it keeps recurring,” Ms. Park said at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. “We must thoroughly investigate the perpetrators, and those who turned a blind eye, and punish them as a warning to others.” |
| The episode has already prompted one top-level resignation: that of the army’s chief of staff on Tuesday. And the Defense Ministry has been flooded with angry messages from the public. “I am afraid to send my son to the military, not because he might be shot dead by the North Korean military but because he might be beaten to death by fellow South Korean soldiers,” one person posted. | The episode has already prompted one top-level resignation: that of the army’s chief of staff on Tuesday. And the Defense Ministry has been flooded with angry messages from the public. “I am afraid to send my son to the military, not because he might be shot dead by the North Korean military but because he might be beaten to death by fellow South Korean soldiers,” one person posted. |
| South Korea maintains a very large military for a country its size — 650,000 troops, most of them conscripts — as a bulwark against North Korea. Full-scale combat on the peninsula ended in 1953 with a truce, but technically the two countries remain at war. South Korean veterans say corporal punishment and abuse have been widespread and condoned for years as a way to enforce discipline among low-paid conscripts. | South Korea maintains a very large military for a country its size — 650,000 troops, most of them conscripts — as a bulwark against North Korea. Full-scale combat on the peninsula ended in 1953 with a truce, but technically the two countries remain at war. South Korean veterans say corporal punishment and abuse have been widespread and condoned for years as a way to enforce discipline among low-paid conscripts. |
| The military’s leadership has repeatedly pledged to end the practices, most notably in 2005 after it was revealed that cadets in an army boot camp had been forced to ingest human waste. The same year, an army private who had been abused killed eight fellow soldiers. The military promised change again in 2011 after a corporal killed four marines. | The military’s leadership has repeatedly pledged to end the practices, most notably in 2005 after it was revealed that cadets in an army boot camp had been forced to ingest human waste. The same year, an army private who had been abused killed eight fellow soldiers. The military promised change again in 2011 after a corporal killed four marines. |
| This year, a sergeant in a front-line unit who had been bullied and ostracized was accused of going on a shooting rampage in June and killing five fellow soldiers. “You may have thrown a stone for fun, but for the frog hit by it, it is fatal,” the sergeant wrote in a note. He shot himself after an armed standoff with his unit, but survived. | This year, a sergeant in a front-line unit who had been bullied and ostracized was accused of going on a shooting rampage in June and killing five fellow soldiers. “You may have thrown a stone for fun, but for the frog hit by it, it is fatal,” the sergeant wrote in a note. He shot himself after an armed standoff with his unit, but survived. |
| In South Korea, a country that was ruled by generals or former generals until the 1990s, the military has never faced as much scrutiny as Parliament has applied to other parts of the government. Military leaders argued over the years that morale and effectiveness would suffer if the armed forces were exposed to too much criticism, openness and outside interference. | In South Korea, a country that was ruled by generals or former generals until the 1990s, the military has never faced as much scrutiny as Parliament has applied to other parts of the government. Military leaders argued over the years that morale and effectiveness would suffer if the armed forces were exposed to too much criticism, openness and outside interference. |
| Critics say the military is losing the public’s trust by failing to deliver on its repeated promises to end the abuse problem. For many South Koreans, the fact that the military kept the severity of Private Yoon’s case largely to itself for almost four months was almost as shocking as the details of his ordeal. | Critics say the military is losing the public’s trust by failing to deliver on its repeated promises to end the abuse problem. For many South Koreans, the fact that the military kept the severity of Private Yoon’s case largely to itself for almost four months was almost as shocking as the details of his ordeal. |
| One of the angry comments received by the Defense Ministry was from a man who said he was considering helping his son avoid military service with surgery to deliberately damage a knee or other body part and make him medically unfit, as some young men have been known to do. That would be far better, the commenter said, than “having him killed like a dog by human scum in the military.” | One of the angry comments received by the Defense Ministry was from a man who said he was considering helping his son avoid military service with surgery to deliberately damage a knee or other body part and make him medically unfit, as some young men have been known to do. That would be far better, the commenter said, than “having him killed like a dog by human scum in the military.” |
| Details from the military investigation of Private Yoon’s case were made public by the Center for Military Human Rights in Korea; the group has not said how it obtained the report. The director of the center, Lim Tae-hoon, said the case showed “how an entrenched evil mechanism of violence is inherited, as the victim turns into an abuser.” | Details from the military investigation of Private Yoon’s case were made public by the Center for Military Human Rights in Korea; the group has not said how it obtained the report. The director of the center, Lim Tae-hoon, said the case showed “how an entrenched evil mechanism of violence is inherited, as the victim turns into an abuser.” |
| The enlisted men in Private Yoon’s unit, a medical team attached to the 28th Division stationed north of Seoul, formed their own strict hierarchy, with the senior sergeant ruling “like an emperor” over the junior soldiers, Mr. Lim said. | The enlisted men in Private Yoon’s unit, a medical team attached to the 28th Division stationed north of Seoul, formed their own strict hierarchy, with the senior sergeant ruling “like an emperor” over the junior soldiers, Mr. Lim said. |
| The sergeant, who has been identified only by his surname, Lee, treated his juniors, particularly the lowest-ranking private in the unit, like punching bags. After Private Yoon arrived in February, the other soldiers began doing to the newcomer what the sergeant and other superiors had done to them, according to the investigative documents. | The sergeant, who has been identified only by his surname, Lee, treated his juniors, particularly the lowest-ranking private in the unit, like punching bags. After Private Yoon arrived in February, the other soldiers began doing to the newcomer what the sergeant and other superiors had done to them, according to the investigative documents. |
| The governing Saenuri Party has excoriated the top military leadership for paying more attention to damage control than to accountability for Private Yoon’s death. Korean news media reports said the party chairman, Kim Moo-sung, pounded on a desk in anger on Sunday during a briefing on the case by the defense minister, Han Min-koo, and shouted at him: “This is clearly a murder. Don’t you have a child?” | The governing Saenuri Party has excoriated the top military leadership for paying more attention to damage control than to accountability for Private Yoon’s death. Korean news media reports said the party chairman, Kim Moo-sung, pounded on a desk in anger on Sunday during a briefing on the case by the defense minister, Han Min-koo, and shouted at him: “This is clearly a murder. Don’t you have a child?” |
| On Monday, Mr. Han offered a public apology. “Private First Class Yoon joined the military to do his sacred duty, but he died in extreme pain, with no one to appeal to, in a barracks where human dignity was ruined daily,” he said in a statement. And the military ordered a new investigation. | On Monday, Mr. Han offered a public apology. “Private First Class Yoon joined the military to do his sacred duty, but he died in extreme pain, with no one to appeal to, in a barracks where human dignity was ruined daily,” he said in a statement. And the military ordered a new investigation. |