Former Marine Commander Im Sung-keun Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison in Second Trial Over Cpl. Chae's Death

Commanders brought to trial on charges of responsibility for the death of Cpl. Chae Su-geun have been found guilty in their second trial as well.

The 4-3 Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court upheld the sentence of three years in prison handed down in the first trial for former Marine 1st Division Commander Im Sung-keun, who was indicted on charges of professional negligence resulting in death and injury, and violation of orders under the Military Criminal Act, today (August 7).

The special counsel team led by independent counsel Lee Myung-hyun had sought a five-year prison sentence.

Park Sang-hyun, former commander of the 7th Brigade, and Choi Jin-gyu, former commander of the 11th Artillery Battalion, who oversaw the flood-affected site, were each sentenced to one year and six months of imprisonment without prison labor.

Former 7th Artillery Battalion Commander Lee Yong-min, the direct superior of the headquarters company of the 7th Artillery Battalion to which Cpl. Chae belonged, was sentenced to 10 months of imprisonment without prison labor, while former 7th Artillery Battalion Headquarters Company Commander Chang Mo was sentenced to 8 months of imprisonment without prison labor suspended for two years.

These are the same sentences given in the first trial.

The court acknowledged the charge that former Commander Im, as the superior unit commander of Cpl. Chae who died in the line of duty during flood recovery operations in Yecheon-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, on July 19, 2023, neglected his duty to protect the safety of the lives and bodies of his troops.

The court determined that former Commander Im reprimanded artillery battalions that showed no results in the missing person search, and issued active and aggressive search instructions disconnected from field conditions, such as telling them "not to look down from the road, but to go down to the waterside, push through the bushes, and probe to search."

Although he was aware that some troops violated the waterside search guidelines and conducted underwater searches, he condoned it and failed to disseminate safety guidelines or provide safety equipment.

The appellate court, following the first instance, accepted the special counsel team's conclusion that these orders ultimately led to the dangerous underwater search.

The charge that former Commander Im exercised command authority, such as providing on-site guidance and directing search methods, without complying with the fragmentary order transferring operational control to the Army at the time was also upheld as guilty.

However, specific details found guilty in the first trial were overturned to dismissal of charges in the reasoning.

Dismissal of charges in the reasoning means that while a specific charge is recognized as guilty in the verdict order and a sentence is handed down, it is judged as not guilty in the reasoning section of the ruling.

The first trial found former Commander Im guilty of instructing former Brigade Commander Park to continue operations even after the Army issued an order to withdraw from operations.

However, the second trial stated that it is difficult to conclude that former Brigade Commander Park's continuation of operations was the result of former Commander Im exercising operational control.

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