Two Locker Sentries Shot to Death

On the morning of April 20, corporals Lee (22) and Han (21), who were on sentry duty at an engineer corps’ shot locker in Hoengseong County, were found shot to death.

According to the army, a Corporal Kwon heard two shots around 11:50 a.m. and found the two lying on the ground when he ran to the shot locker.

A source in the army said, “They had piercing bullet wounds in the neck and the belly. It was confirmed that the two shots were from Corporal Lee’s K-1 rifle.”

The two corporals started sentry duty at 10:00 a.m. and were going to be relieved by the next shift around noon.

The army is investigating exactly what happened while Corporal Lee and Corporal Han, who were transferred to the corps in November 2005 and February 2006, respectively, are presumed to have had a fight as they were on duty.

According to the army, a soldier on shot locker sentry duty is equipped with a rifle with 5 blank cartridges and carries a magazine with 15 loaded cartridges.

A source from the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, “Related regulations were modified last month, so the commander in charge can make his own judgment on whether to supply loaded cartridges for sentry duty. But those on sentry duty for main facilities such as a shot locker are required to carry loaded cartridges.”

ysh1005@donga.com