Army's 1st Corps Found Operating Personal Weapons Without Loaded Ammunition; Military Orders Magazines Loaded

Following recent controversies over public crew-served weapons being operated without loaded ammunition, it has been revealed that the Army's 1st Corps has also been carrying out guard duty with personal firearms, such as K2 rifles, without loaded ammunition.

According to the office of Representative Kang Sun-young of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, on August 5, the Ground Operations Command (GOC), which oversees the 1st Corps, recently told Representative Kang's office in response to related inquiries that "the guard duty guidelines stipulate that personal weapons should be loaded with ammunition in principle," and that "the 1st Corps carried them (without being loaded)."

It was reported that the 1st Corps had for years conducted guard operations at General Outposts (GOP) and front-line Guard Posts (GP) without loading ammunition into personal firearms, instead keeping them carried in tactical vests.

The 1st Corps, which is responsible for the western front, recently sparked controversy when it was revealed that it had changed its guard operation guidelines starting in the first half of this year to prevent public crew-served weapons, such as K6 heavy machine guns and K4 high-speed automatic grenade launchers, from being loaded with ammunition during GP and GOP guard operations.

In addition to this, the fact that personal weapons were also left unloaded has come to light. The standard principle for the South Korean military's weapons operation in front-line areas such as GPs and GOPs is to have ammunition loaded.

In response, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) stated, "As of July 31, the 1st Corps issued a fragmentary order to maintain loaded conditions for personal weapons in front-line units."

It added, "The Ground Operations Command is currently inspecting the guard operation status of all front-line guard units and will take necessary measures based on the inspection results."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.