By Lee Tae-hoon
A conspirator of the shooting spree that took the lives of four Marines early this week claimed that he had to undergo inhumane sufferings at his military unit, according to a military officer Thursday.
The accomplice, identified only as private Jeong, told investigators that his superiors deprived him of basic religious rights, and physically abused him, said Navy Capt. Kwon Young-jae.
Kwon has been spearheading the ongoing probe into the deadly incident.
“According to Jeong, a sergeant told him that he is as mighty as god and that Jeong must not read the bible. Instead, he forced him to believe in him,”the investigator told reporters. “Jeong also claimed that the sergeant burned his bible.”
Asked whether there was any sexual harassment, Kwon said the same sergeant sprayed pesticides near the zipper of Jeong military pants and light a fire on it.
As for physical violence in the barracks, Kwon said Jeong alleged that he was punched 10 to 20 times in the shoulder and chest simply by a corporal because he replied that had stronger respect on another soldier than him.
Kwon said Jeong confessed that he was asked to destroy a watchtower near his barracks with a grenade by Corporal Kim, who went on the shooting rampage Monday.
The Marine Corps arrested the collaborator immediately after obtaining Kim’s testimony about him.
Jeong also reportedly admitted that he and Kim decided to commit the crime and flee from their island based unit in the West Sea 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,”Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said.
Corporal Kim opened fire inside the barracks of the Ganghwa Island unit near the tense maritime border in the West Sea.
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 statements that Kim suffered from personality disorders and showed signs of schizophrenia before joining the unit last September.