By Lee Tae-hoon
A Marine Corps corporal who went on a shooting spree early this week claimed that he instructed an alleged conspirator to destroy a sentry post with a grenade, a military official said Wednesday.
The corporal, identified only as Kim, took the lives of four colleagues and wounded one in the deadly rampage Monday.
“Corporal Kim testified that he instructed a private named Jeong to destroy a watchtower near his barracks with a grenade that he gave him as he loaded a K-2 rifle,”the official said, asking for anonymity.
The Marine Corps arrested the alleged collaborator immediately after obtaining Kim’s testimony about him.
The military has been investigating how he managed to steal a K-2 rifle, a grenade and ammunition while being off duty, and whether there was a conspirator.
Kim Young-soo, a senior investigator in the case, said the shooter alledged that he and Jeong decided to commit the crime and flee from their island based unit in the hope that their action would help put an end to violence in the military.
“The shooter repeatedly claimed that he collaborated with Jeong to steal the rifle and ammunition during questioning,”he said.
The investigator noted that both Corporal Kim and Jeong were on a list of “maladjusted” conscripts and classified as soldiers who needed special attention. The two reportedly shared the view that physical abuse must be stopped in military barracks.
Jeong is suspected of failing to stop Kim from taking ammunition out of a locker to load the rifle. Jeong, however, flatly denied his involvement.
“Private Jeong claims that he did not take part in the shooting at all and that he was in a telephone booth during the time of the incident,” the investigator said.
“We have yet to conclude whether Jeong had planned the shooting with Kim prior to the event, or whether the private was aware of the plan beforehand.”
Corporal Kim opened fire inside the barracks of the Ganghwa Island unit in the West Sea on Monday.
Kim himself was injured after he detonated a hand grenade inside a warehouse in an apparent suicide attempt. He was arrested shortly after.
Kim claimed that he had been ostracized by both his superiors and juniors.
A report that Rep. Shin Hak-yong of the Democratic Party obtained states that Kim suffered from personality disorders and showed signs of schizophrenia before joining the unit last September.
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