Four decades ago, a court ruled that the state should compensate the family of a private who drowned after being ordered to enter the water by the military with around 4.1 billion won. The compensation is for the family’s late discovery of the truth of the incident due to the military’s cover-up.
According to the legal circle on the 27th, the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Agreement 46 (Chief Judge Kim Hyeong-cheol) recently ruled in a lawsuit filed by the five family members of Mr. A, who died in the military, to “pay a total of around 4.1 billion won to the family.” A, who was a defense soldier, drowned in a reservoir near a military base in Jangseong, Jeonnam in June 1985. At the time, the army announced that A had died of cardiac arrest while trying to catch fish to help his father, who was suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis.
The family requested a re-investigation of Mr. A’s death by the Military Fatal Accident Investigation Committee about 30 years later. This was because they could not accept the explanation given by the military that Private A, who had only served for a month, went into the reservoir alone.
In May 2022, the committee presented different investigation results from the military’s announcement at the time. It was revealed that A went into the water to set up a fishing net under the orders of a senior after going to the reservoir to dump trash. A, who was the youngest in the unit, had worked night shift the day before and had not been able to leave work. However, the military falsified the investigation records and handled A’s death as accidental drowning.
Based on the investigation results of the committee in September 2022, the Ministry of National Defense acknowledged Mr. A’s death as a line-of-duty death. Last October, the family filed a lawsuit against the state, stating that the military investigative agency had concealed the truth, causing them mental suffering, and they could not receive compensation and recognition for Mr. A’s military service in time.
The court found that the handling of A’s death as accidental without revealing the substantive truth violated the military investigative agency’s duty and infringed on the interests of A’s family in terms of honor, emotions, and legal rights. The court also pointed out that A’s parents died without knowing the fact of their son’s line-of-duty death for decades, and the remaining family did not learn the truth until 37 years after his death, experiencing severe mental anguish. It was noted that if A had been recognized as a line-of-duty soldier at the time of his death, the compensation amount was determined by considering the pension he would have received and other benefits.