“NHRC Turns Over Investigation Of Army Major Relating to a Private’s Suicide” (04-24-2003)
Confirming acts of cruelty, including excessive punishment, NHRC issues recommendation to the Minister of National Defense to review active-duty military deaths, reform institutions, and conduct human rights training
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a recommendation to the Minister of National Defense (MND) to lay out a plan for institutional reform to improve the credibility of military case investigation of active-duty deaths; on the other hand, the NHRC turned over investigation of Major Yoon (then, a tactical operations officer), suspected of cruelty toward army Private Lee, to the MND. This recommendation follows a complaint filed in November 2001 by Lee’s father (age 53) against the battalion commander and ten other officers at the base where Lee was stationed after Lee (then, age 22) committed suicide by jumping off the roof of an apartment building near his home the first day of his “100th day consolation leave for new recruits” in February 2001. One of 41 complaints filed on suspicious deaths taking place in the military, this case represents the first that has been brought to a resolution.
The NHRC findings are as follows. After Private Lee’s enlistment in October 2000 and assignment to a base the following December, on 27 December 2000 when Lee complained of heart pain during a 2-hour exercise involving push-ups and running the track double time, the army denied his request for hospitalization, instead giving him cold medicine. In January 2000, as punishment for tardiness in changing into uniform for guard duty, Sergeant Kim, wearing military boots, kicked Lee in the abdomen one time. On 6 February 2001, a different Sergeant Kim struck Lee twice in the head for not replying while in his quarters; Sergeant Kim received a “suspension of prosecution” (27 June 2001) from the Division investigation department. In relation to this incident, on 8 February 2001, Major Yoon (then, a tactical operations officer) demanded that Lee write a statement claiming to have induced Sergeant Kim to violence, but because Lee did not write the statement, Major Yoon punished Lee by having him run the outdoor track for two hours with a used military-vehicle tire (weight: 26 kg, diameter: 88 cm) hung around his neck.
After being subjected to such excessive punishment from his superiors and commanding officers, Private Lee was temporarily hospitalized at the regiment’s medical facilities on 12 February 2001 and received a psychiatric test at Armed Forces Taejon Hospital the next day.
The NHRC also found that Private Lee had been due his “100th day (since enlistment) leave” on January 27th, but Company Commander Captain Jeong decided against granting Lee his leave on the grounds that Lee could not adjust to military life. Although Battalion Commander Lieutenant-Colonel Kim thought, “there’ll be problems” regarding the consolation leave scheduled for February 16th, Deputy Regiment Commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Choi decided to suddenly order Lee’s leave. On 16 February 2001, the first day of his consolation leave, Lee stopped by his home, said that he was going to go buy some books, then went out and leapt to his death from the roof of a nearby apartment building.
Noting that even though Private Lee was a soldier requiring special attention and care as a new conscript having difficulty adjusting to military life, Lee’s superiors failed to show sustained concern and his commanding officers overstepped the boundaries of discipline by ordering excessive punishment, the NHRC found that the victim felt unendurable despair ultimately leading to the tragic suicide. The NHRC also found it worthy to note that it could find no other reason for the victim, an enrolled college student conscripted to the army, to commit suicide and found that there was significant causal relation between Private Lee’s death and his superiors’ ostracism and commanding officers’ excessive punishment.
The NHRC issued a four-part recommendation to the Minister of National Defense: 1) to carry out a review of the Army Headquarters active-duty military death deliberations’ verdict that Private Lee’s death case was one of “self-injury and suicide”; 2) to draw up a pro-active plan to reduce the possibility of all kinds of accidents and improve the adjustment capacities of maladjusted conscripts in military service; 3) to lay out a plan for reforming military institutions toward increased objectivity, fairness and credibility when dealing with accidental military deaths; and 4) to carry out human rights training for military officers and soldiers including those related to this case.
