Korean Soldier Receives Death Penalty For Grenade Attack (moved from ATSNN)

Kim Dong-min has been found guilty by a South Korean court and sentenced to death following an attack on his fellow soldiers. Kim, who is 22, was reported to have complained of being bullied by his colleagues. He threw a grenade into a barrack where many soldiers were sleeping, and then opened fired. After an inquiry authorities have learnt that Kim was obsessed by computer war games and had reached a point where he was unable to tell the difference between gaming and reality. According to a witnesses account the attack was so viscous they believed they were being attacked by enemy forces. Kim's defence lawyer will appeal the ruling to a higher court.




There are apparently frequent reports of bullying and violence against conscripts within South Korea’s 600,000-man army. This hopefully sheds light on the reasons behind this attack which seems totally random. I find it offensive to hear the blame being put on computer games, if this was the case then Kim must have had severe mental problems to make him not know the difference between reality and a computer game.

A terrible story and a terrible outcome, I will never agree with the use of the death penalty but what would be an appropriate sentence for a crime like this? Maybe they should try and find out the real reasons behind this attack and try and prevent any more in the future.


Related News Links:
news.bbc.co.uk
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According to a witnesses account the attack was so viscous they believed they were being attacked by enemy forces

Dear god, what would've happened if the entire base had gone on alert, and other bases in a cascade!? And then the NKs respond in kind, things are tense on that border as is, with units firing across it just as a mind game.