A 3-year prison sentence has been finalized for former Marine Corps 1st Division Commander Lim Sung-geun, who was identified as responsible for the death of the late Corporal Chae Su-geun, about three years after the accident.

The Supreme Court's First Division (presiding Justice Shin Sook-hee) finalized the lower court's ruling sentencing the former commander to three years in prison on charges of professional negligence resulting in death and injury, as well as violation of orders under the Military Criminal Act.

This comes 1,196 days after the tragic death of Cpl. Chae on July 19, 2023.

The prison terms of one year and six months handed down to former 7th Brigade Commander Park Sang-hyun and former 11th Artillery Battalion Commander Choi Jin-gyu, who oversaw the flood recovery site, were also upheld.

A suspended sentence of two years with eight months in prison was finalized for former 7th Artillery Battalion Headquarters Company Commander, surnamed Chang.

The accident involving Cpl. Chae occurred on July 19, 2023, during a search operation for missing persons at a flood-hit site in Yecheon-gun, North Gyeongsang Province.

At the time, Cpl. Chae died and other Marines were injured as the riverbed gave way.

Lim and others were accused of failing to fulfill their duty of care, such as ordering underwater search operations without providing safety equipment like life jackets to the service members.

They were indicted in November of last year by the special counsel team investigating the Marine's death, led by Lee Myung-hyun.


According to the special counsel's investigation, they had given specific search instructions, such as grid-style searching and moving down to the water's edge to probe with sticks.

The investigation also revealed that they issued directives that led the service members into underwater searches, including securing chest-high waders.

The special counsel team had demanded a five-year prison term for Lim and prison terms ranging from one year to two years and six months for the other defendants.

In May of this year, the first-instance court recognized the causal relationship between Lim's negligence and the occurrence of the accident, sentencing him to three years in prison.

The first-instance court pointed out, "The defendant's orders heightened the risks, and despite knowing about the underwater searches, he failed to fulfill his occupational duties by not exercising proper command authority to ban the searches or provide safety equipment."

It further judged, "If the defendant had simply mentioned through former Brigade Commander Park 'not to enter the water,' the Marines would not have forced the underwater searches, and with proper equipment, the victims could have been rescued promptly."

Lim was also accused of failing to follow a fragmentary order that transferred operational control to the Army at the time of the accident.

The charges of violating the Military Criminal Act by exercising command authority, such as giving field guidance and directing search methods, were also recognized as guilty.

The first instance sentenced former 7th Brigade Commander Park Sang-hyun and former 11th Artillery Battalion Commander Choi Jin-gyu to one year and six months in prison each.

Former 7th Artillery Battalion Headquarters Company Commander Lee Yong-min, the direct superior of the 7th Artillery Battalion headquarters company to which Cpl. Chae belonged, was sentenced to 10 months in prison.

Former Company Commander Chang was also sentenced to eight months in prison with a two-year suspended sentence.

The court judged that former Brigade Commander Park and former Battalion Commander Choi neglected their safety duties by issuing search orders without clear explanations regarding underwater and waterside areas.

It also rebuked, "The defendants disregarded the risks to the lives of the service members, which are inherently entailed in the process of achieving search results in hazardous areas."

It pointed out, "While service members have lost their lives in the course of military operations in the past, the practice of holding only lower-level command echelons responsible has been repeated, but this case is different."

It explained, "Rather than mere 'omission' where a senior commander neglected their responsibilities, this has strong characteristics of an 'active commission' result, where instructions were given that exacerbated specific risks in a situation where they were aware of them."

Both the special counsel team and the defendants appealed, but the second instance maintained the same sentences.

However, the second instance partially acquitted Lim of the charge of instructing former Brigade Commander Park to continue operations despite operational withdrawal guidelines among his charges of violating orders.

In August of this year, the second-instance court rebuked, "Although commanders at the time of the operation had an occupational duty of care to prevent harm to the lives and bodies of their subordinates, they emphasized active searches and neglected safety guidelines."

Particularly regarding Lim, it criticized, "Despite being the top commander ultimately responsible for the safety of his troops' lives and bodies, he neglected his occupational duty of care, resulting in the deaths and injuries of the victims."

The Supreme Court also upheld the second-instance ruling, stating, "There are no errors in the lower court's judgment that violated the rules of logic and experience to exceed the limits of the principle of free evaluation of evidence, or that misunderstood legal principles regarding professional negligence resulting in death and injury and violation of orders."

(Photo: Yonhap News)