Four soldiers indicted on murder charges in Yoon case

By Jun Ji-hye

Army prosecutors will file murder charges against four soldiers who allegedly beat a private first-class to death in April.

“The prosecutor’s office of the Third ROK Army has decided to pursue murder as the primary charge in connection with the offense, and manslaughter as the secondary charge,” an official said Tuesday.

This means military prosecutors are pushing for murder convictions as a first choice, but if they do not succeed, manslaughter convictions will still be possible.

The military prosecution had charged the soldiers with manslaughter in May, saying the four had not intended to kill the victim, identified only by his surname Yoon.

The prosecutor’s office reconsidered its approach, saying the men beat Yoon even though they were aware of his frail health.

“The defendants majored in medically related subjects in university before being enlisted, meaning they have much more detailed medical knowledge than normal people,” a prosecutor said.

Among the six men accused of being involved in Yoon’s death, two sergeants and two corporals have been charged with murder.

A private first-class was charged with assault and destruction of evidence, while a staff sergeant was charged with dereliction of duty over his alleged failure to make a report to a commander as soon as he learned that Yoon had been taken to hospital.

Yoon died April 7 after what prosecutors say is a month of physical, verbal and mental abuse at the hands of his colleagues. The soldiers and the victim belonged to the 28th Division in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province.

The case was transferred from the 28th division to the Third Army early last month amid fierce public criticism over the Army’s repeated failure to take action on military violence.

Human rights activists argued that murder charges were warranted.

A murder trial will take place after the Sept. 6-10 Chuseok holidays, the official said.

Besides the murder charges, the prosecutors also filed supplementary indictments against Sergeant Lee for allegedly forcing Yoon not to go to church, as well as for allegedly threatening another private first-class who witnessed the violence to prevent him from reporting the incident.

However, the latest decision to file murder charges is also triggering criticism over the Army’s inadequate investigation in the initial stages.

The maximum sentence for manslaughter is 30 years, while a murder conviction can result in the death penalty.

Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye