Army sergeant sentenced to death for shooting spree

By Jun Ji-hye

An Army sergeant convicted of committing a deadly shooting spree was sentenced to death, Tuesday, for killing five colleagues and wounding seven others.

The general military court of the First Army Headquarters in Wonju, Gangwon Province, gave the defendant the maximum sentence provided under law, accepting the military prosecution’s demand.

“The defendant has been found guilty of committing a heinous crime by shooting his comrades,” the court said in its ruling. “He cannot be forgiven simply because he doesn’t have a history of crime in the past and was bullied during his school days.”

The court also said that the 23-year-old sergeant surnamed Lim did not show any signs of self-reflection but instead shifted the responsibility onto his colleagues.

“So, it was an inevitable decision to isolate him from society forever,” it said.

On Jan. 16, the prosecution demanded the death penalty for Lim, saying “he committed vicious and premeditated murder against his unarmed comrades.”

Lim carried out the shooting spree on June 21 last year after serving a stint at a GOP (general outpost) on the southern side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ). He shot about 10 rounds of his K-2 assault rifle at soldiers also on their way back from duty and threw a hand grenade.

The casualties and the sergeant belonged to the 22nd Army Division based in Goseong, Gangwon Province, the jurisdiction of which includes the eastern coast bordering the North.

According to the Army, Lim was categorized as a “soldier under close watch” for failing to adjust to life in the unit.

Lim has argued that a prior assault against him by an officer and mockery from his colleagues regarding his appearance was partly to blame for his actions.

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