Marine corporal kills 4 soldiers in shooting rampage

A 19-year-old corporal killed four Marines in a shooting rampage late Monday morning at a seashore sentry of the 2nd Marines Division in Ganghwa Island off the coast of Incheon.

Staff Sgt. Lee Seung-hun, 25, was among the four killed and two others were injured, including the shooter, who was identified by his surname Kim.

The shooting was the bloodiest in the Korean military since July 2005, when eight soldiers were killed at a frontline guard post of an Army unit in Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province.

Col. Kim Tae-heun, a spokesman for the Marines, told a briefing Monday, "Corporal Kim committed a shooting spree with a K-2 rifle inside the barracks, killing four and injuring one,” adding, “Three of the victims died at the scene and Corporal Park Chi-hyeon, 21, died while being taken to a military hospital.”

The Marines said the corpses will be preserved at the shooting site and later transferred to the hospital of the Armed Forces Medical Command after the results of a lab investigation are released. A private second class is in stable condition, they added.

The results of a Marine investigation said the shooter entered the barracks of the sentry house just before lunchtime, randomly fired multiple shots at his colleagues who were on duty, immediately ran out, and entered an external compartment in the barracks, where he detonated a hand grenade.

A military source said, “Kim was captured at the scene with a fragment in his chest and a piercing wound in his knee, but is in stable condition.

Kim is believed to have detonated the hand grenade in a suicide attempt after randomly firing his rifle.

Soon after the rampage, a newly formed investigation team led by Yoo Nak-jun, chief of the Marine Corps Command, was dispatched to the scene to probe the cause of the shooting.

The incident was also immediately reported to President Lee Myung-bak, who is visiting South Africa to help the country`s bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, but he reportedly released no comment.

ysh1005@donga.com