A South Korean conscript accused of killing eight soldiers near the border with North Korea was so engrossed in online war games he could not distinguish between fantasy and reality, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
In a detailed report on Sunday’s incident in which a soldier tossed a grenade among barrack comrades and then opened fire, the ministry said the private -- officially identified only as “Kim” -- had planned the crime for at least a week because of bullying.
“He was so hooked on online war games he could master most of them,” said a ministry statement. “He was daydreaming so much he couldn’t tell the real world from the imaginary world.”
'I thought war had broken out'
Some of those who survived the early-hours assault said on television and in the statement they thought North Korean troops were attacking through the fortified Demilitarized Zone border the South Korean troops were guarding.
“When I heard the shooting, I thought war had broken out,” said one sergeant on television.
The Demilitarized Zone is one of the world’s most sensitive military regions; a tense border dividing 1.1 million North Korean troops from 690,000 South Korean troops -- many of them conscripts. Some 30,000 U.S. forces are also based in the South.
Seven corporals and one first lieutenant died on Sunday, the worst such incident in the army in 20 years, according to the ministry. Four other soldiers were wounded.
The ministry said the investigation and questioning had shown the soldier had used a corporal’s weapon and then picked up his own rifle and returned to his guardpost. Two of those shot were not in the sleeping quarters.
The incident has prompted much debate among South Koreans about conditions in military service for a new generation that has never experienced war or privation.
The accused soldier, who had been on guard duty at the frontier, faces a possible court martial for murder. He confessed soon after the incident and was arrested, Thursday’s 18-page statement said. It said 44 shots had been fired.
Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung offered to resign on Wednesday over the killings, but President Roh Moo-hyun has not decided yet whether to accept the resignation.
Soldier re-enacts killings
The accused soldier re-enacted the incident at the scene for investigators on Wednesday. Relatives of the dead also watched.
The soldier -- described in the statement as a loner and introvert -- was assigned to the border in January after basic training. South Korean men are generally conscripted for two years, although some serve longer. The Demilitarized Zone is one of the toughest assignments for conscripts or professional soldiers because of the constant tension and remoteness.
The statement said a corporal had chastised the soldier on May 11 with the words: “You are annoying me. Go away to another unit.”
One sergeant was quoted in the statement as saying the soldier had repeatedly said he would “do his best.”
“Therefore I did not mark him down as someone who needed to be watched,” the sergeant was quoted as saying.
