Recommendation Concerning the Case of the Death of a Trainee Soldier
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) recommended “A” Army Training Center and the Minister for National Defense to adopt necessary measures for the improvement of human rights condition at the Center, recognizing that there had been human rights violation in the case involving the suicide of a trainee soldier.
In March, Mr. Kim (age 50), the trainee soldier’s uncle, submitted a complaint to the NHRCK that his nephew chose to kill himself in pain and despair because his requests to receive private treatment on his middle-ear infection had been repeatedly denied and ignored by his training leader at the Center. He also alleged that a prompt emergency treatment had not been done on the day of the trainee’s death.
The Army Training Center denied the allegation, stating that the trainee had received medical treatment a total of 9 times; outstanding symptoms were not detected to classify the trainee for special attention at the initial admittance; verbal abuses were not made; and he had been found already dead.
The NHRCK affirmed the claims of the complaint through reviewing the trainee’s letters, notes, the statements of the relevant training officers and witnesses, medical records, training record, postmortem examination, and other sources. The NHRCK made the following recommendations to the Army Training Center and the Minister for National Defense.
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To take disciplinary measure to those responsible for the incident
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To ensure compulsory transfer of medical records
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To establish the detailed plan for identifying and managing trainee soldiers for special attention
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To improve the emergency and medical treatment manual
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To station counselors at “A”Training Center.
According to the records, the platoon leader referred the trainee soldier to Daejeon Military Hospital, without transferring the soldier’s medical records from the center’s clinic on February 21, 2011. In the absence of the necessary medical record, the doctor gave a common diagnosis to the trainee. After five days, he requested private treatment on the unimproved symptom only to receive verbal abuse, and the following day, he committed suicide.
The NHRCK assessed that the trainee’s right to receive timely and proper treatment was violated considering the fact that his requests for private medical treatment were denied after the series of military medical treatments had not improved his symptoms.
It was confirmed that the platoon leader scolded and spoke inappropriately to the trainee about the repeated requests for private treatment. A significant change in psychological status of the trainee was evident as he also requested for further medical treatment and counseling. However, the training officers failed to take appropriate measure to classify the trainee for special attention.
The NHRCK viewed that the training officers were partially responsible for the trainee’s death as they may have had failed to prevent the trainee’s death, contributed to his pain and despair, and neglected their duty to take caution in this regard.
