By Kim Young-jin
Staff Reporter
Military authorities are investigating two incidents that have resulted in the death of military personnel.
An officer was killed and three others remain missing after a Navy helicopter apparently crashed while on a routine patrol mission off the southwest coast, officials said Friday.
The helicopter likely went down around 9 p.m. Thursday some 14.5 kilometers off of Jindo Island, South Jeolla Province, officials of the military officials said. They said the aircraft disappeared from the radar and lost contact with its command.
Lt. Kwon Dae-ha was found dead; the Navy and Coast Guard are searching the area for the three missing and the wreckage.
Officials said the apparent crash is unrelated to the unexplained sinking of the Navy vessel Cheonan on March 26.
In a separate incident, an Army guard has died in a suspected suicide, an official said Friday.
The 19-year-old soldier was found Wednesday with a gunshot wound to the chest at a guard post in the border region of Cheorwon. He was taken to a hospital but died three hours later, the official said.
Authorities are investigating the exact cause of the death. It has been determined that the soldier's rifle had been fired, leading to suspicion it was a suicide.