Army Investigation Team: Private Kim Decided to Kill Two Days Ahead of Incident

It was revealed that a 22-year-old private first class, Kim Dong-min, who went on a shooting spree at a front-line guard post (GP) in Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi Province on June 19, decided to go on the deadly rampage two days ahead of the incident.

In addition, it was found that even though the shooter, Kim, who was assigned to this platoon early this year, had expressed his discontent several times, like hinting his plan to commit such a crime, the platoon has not been conscious of it at all.

The Army Joint Investigation Team (AJIT) revealed during its announcement on the results of this incident on June 20 that Kim premeditated this incident carefully, given that Kim, who had been suffering constant verbal abuse and reprimands from his senior soldiers, harbored a grudge against them and decided to kill all of his comrades two days before this incident.

An official of the AJIT said, “Kim expressed his displeasure to his comrade, private first class Mr. Cheon, three to five times, saying, “I want to shoot all of my colleagues to death.” He added, “However, Cheon was confirmed to have not reported Kim’s remark to the military authorities because he regarded it as just a grumble or joke.”

The AJIT also explained that the platoon was found to have not classified Kim as “a soldier who was required to be taken care of” on the grounds that even though Kim had a hard time in barracks life due to his introspective attitude, he showed his will to do his best.

An Army official said, “It was found that the discipline of the guard post on the scene had fallen into disorder, including that it has changed its guard service system at its discretion as well as that it has not observed the procedures of issuing and returning ammunition,” adding, “We plan to reprimand the platoon’s officers strictly for their supervision based on the regulations.”

The Army stated that regarding the eight killed, it is reviewing whether to promote them to a higher position posthumously.

In the meantime, concerning this incident, President Roh Moo-hyun revealed his position on June 20, saying, “After carrying out an in-depth investigation into this incident so that the public has no suspicion over it, the government should take appropriate measures without any frustration.”

On the afternoon of the same day, President Roh expressed his condolences and delivered condolence money to the victims’ bereaved families by sending Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Woo-sik to the Military Hospital in Bundang where a joint altar with burning incense for the eight killed was set up.

Sang-Ho Yun Jung-Hun Kim ysh1005@donga.com jnghn@donga.com