Prior to the death of Marine Corporal Chae Sang-geun, a phone file containing circumstances showing then-division commander Lim Seong-geun ordering a search to be conducted was made public.
This is contradictory to former Division Commander Lim’s claim that he never ordered a search because the Army has the authority to control the site, and therefore he is not responsible.
Reporter Deok-young Lee reports.
◀ Report ▶
On July 18 last year, soldiers of the 7th Artillery Battalion, 1st Marine Division, to which Sang Chae belonged, began searching for missing people.
It was difficult to continue the search operation due to the continuous rain.
Eventually, the battalion commander asks higher-up units to stop the search.
[해병대 1사단 7포병대대장 (2023년 7월 18일)]
″Hey, it’s raining too much right now.″
Army units on the scene had already withdrawn.
But the answer that came back was to continue the search.
[해병대 1사단 7여단 작전과장 (음성변조, 2023년 7월 18일 오후 3시 10분)]
″The division commander is still there. The brigade commander just called, and the division commander was next to me, and he told me to ‘do it normally’ and ‘make sure you wait until 16:00.’”
The division commander mentioned here is none other than Commander Lim Seong-geun of the 1st Marine Division.
After a while, the 7th Brigade commander also reconfirms the division commander’s instructions.
[해병대 1사단 7여단장 (음성변조, 2023년 7월 18일 오후 3시 17분)]
″The official withdrawal order is a bit ambiguous. I have suggested this to the division commander several times, and you have known it since day one.”
The explanation is that the brigade commander also suggested withdrawal several times, but the division commander insisted on a search.
[해병대 1사단 7여단장 (음성변조, 2023년 7월 18일 오후 3시 17분)]
″’The kids need to be strong and do this. It’s not something that will last for a day or two, but they shouldn’t let their morale drop from the first day. ‘I need to be strongly motivated for this’… The commander demonstrated good leadership… ″
After the search was conducted, specific instructions were given to ‘search carefully in a checkerboard pattern.’
[이 모 씨/채상병 부대 해병대원 (전역)]
“We were told to do it in a tile arrangement, at least 1 meter apart. What do they say if it’s too crowded? Chae Sang-byeong was originally in shallow water, but moved to deeper water… ″
In response to this, former division commander Lim Seong-geun said that the brigade commander was nearby at the time and only gave his opinion, and that he never issued a search order.
This is Deokyoung Lee from MBC News.
Video Editing: Park Byeong-geun
Tags: complaints raining search conducted
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