GP Guards Armed with Empty Rifles and Unauthorized Removal in Rear Units Spark Security Concerns

It has been confirmed that the Army's 1st Corps, responsible for guarding the foremost frontline of the western front, has carried out guard duty at Guard Posts (GPs) and General Outposts (GOPs) for years without loading live ammunition into personal firearms.

This follows revelations that directives were recently changed to prohibit loading live ammunition into crew-served weapons such as the K6 heavy machine gun and the K4 high-speed automatic grenade launcher, indicating that personal firearms were also operated with "empty-gun guard duty."

According to the office of People Power Party Representative Kang Seon-young, the ROK Army Ground Operations Command stated that "the principle for personal firearms during guard duty is to load live ammunition," but noted that the 1st Corps carried out duties with ammunition carried separately rather than loaded into the firearms.

Military officials and other sources reported that soldiers in the 1st Corps have been performing guard duties at GPs and GOPs since the tenure of the previous corps commander without attaching ammunition magazines to K2C1 rifles, instead carrying the unattached magazines in combat vests.

The 1st Corps maintains that there were no operational issues because soldiers could pull magazines from their combat vests and attach them to their firearms in the event of a situation.

It explained that this method was not a new directive created by former Corps Commander Han Ki-sung, but an operational principle maintained within the corps previously.

However, live ammunition was reportedly loaded during search and ambush operations conducted inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

The 1st Corps reportedly began loading live ammunition into personal firearms starting on July 31, following the controversy sparked by the disclosure that crew-served weapons were left unloaded.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) stated that it could not confirm whether it was aware of the 1st Corps' practice of leaving personal firearms unloaded.

Previously, the JCS stated it had not received reports regarding the 1st Corps' unloaded crew-served weapons until media coverage began, sustaining controversies over lax management and supervision of frontline readiness.

Politicians have criticized the practice of conducting guard duty at GPs and GOPs—where immediate response is required—with empty guns as a measure that threatens the safety of soldiers.

Meanwhile, cases of poor management regarding firearms and ammunition also emerged in the rear; on August 3, a Marine Corps non-commissioned officer in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, smuggled a personal firearm and live ammunition off-base and died by suicide at the officers' quarters.

Military authorities reportedly failed to detect the unauthorized removal of a K1-series rifle and multiple rounds of live ammunition for over 60 hours.

(Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Choi Gang-san | Design by Lee Jung-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.