No.165 / Sep 4, 2023
In Korea, there is a law that men who are healthy must serve in the military for a certain period. Males with obligation to serve in the military are also called “Sons of the Nation”. However, as the title says, the nation does not take care of their sons when accidents happen in the military. Recently on July 19, 2023, there was a situation where marine corps was mobilized to find a missing person due to the flood. As a result, a soldier who was looking for the missing person went missing and returned as a corpse. The progress of the case is as follows.
Private first class of Korean Marine corps, Chae Su-geun was a soldier who was serving in the Korean Marine corps. He and his companions were delivered a mission to find a missing person near the river. Suddenly during the mission, Mr. Chae sunk into the water when the ground under the water collapsed. After the case was reported in the media, the fact was unveiled. Although it was certain that the flow of the river was too fast because of the flood, soldiers were unable to equip life vests. It is also reported that the First Marine Division Commander, Im Seong-geun, delivered an order to wear identical outfits without life vests. His order was to wear a functional red T-shirt with symbolizing the Marine Corps with a yellow-colored letter, “Marine Corps” written largely on its back. Furthermore, according to the order delivered by Commander Im, it is reported that he wanted the word Marine Corps to be clearly visible in the pictures and videos and the attitude of the active search operations to be broadcasted. Hence, he ordered the soldiers to dive into the water waist high without any life-saving equipment. He even said that he would go to check the operation site. Commander Im just used the mission to boast his commanding aspects by showing people his capabilities of carrying out a life-saving operation. As a result, a soldier lost his life because of the desire of the commander. There might be innumerable cases that might not have been reported to the superiors or the media. After the case of Mr. Chae, there are so many voices that wants a change in the military culture. However, this is just a meaningless infinite loop.
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) says that changes are going to be made, and they are trying to make the military culture more desirable. However, in the Netflix original drama Deserter Pursuit (D.P.), there is a line that showcases the problems in the Korean military from a long time ago: “There are canteens in our military camp, and do you know what it says on the canteen? 1953. The canteens were used during the Korean War in 1953. How can the military change under the situation where even the canteens have not changed yet?” It is the main character’s line conveying that it is meaningless to think that any major changes will be made in the military, with the soldiers’ basic supplies unchanged. This line awakens the traditional problem of empty talk in the military among people. As accidents in the military are likely to lead to casualties, the attitude to respect all people in the military should be followed and be of most importance. Many people want the MND to prevent such cases rather than try to settle these accidents in a hurry after the incident happened.
By Seo Myeong-jae, AG reporter
smj001209s@ajou.ac.kr
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