Appeals court upholds 3-year prison term for ex- commander over Marine’s death in 2023

The Seoul High Court on Friday upheld a three-year prison sentence for Lim Seong-geun, a former commander of the 1st Marine Division, over the 2023 death of Marine Cpl. Chae Su-geun during a search and rescue mission in North Gyeongsang.

Lim was convicted of occupational negligence resulting in death or injury and of violating an order under the Military Criminal Act. The special counsel team led by Lee Myeong-hyeon had sought a five-year prison term for Lim.

Two other officers who oversaw the operation, Park Sang-hyun, former commander of the 7th Marine Brigade, and Choi Jin-kyu, former commander of the 11th Artillery Battalion, were each sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Lee Yong-min, former commander of the 7th Artillery Battalion and the direct superior of the headquarters company to which Chae belonged, received 10 months in prison. Former headquarters company commander Chang was given an eight-month prison term suspended for two years.

All of the sentences remained unchanged on appeal.

The appeals court found that Lim, as a senior commander, failed in his duty to protect the lives and safety of service members during the operation in Yecheon County, North Gyeongsang, where Chae was swept away in a fast-moving stream and died on July 19, 2023.

The court found that Lim reprimanded an artillery battalion for making insufficient progress in the search for missing people and ordered a more aggressive search that ignored conditions on the ground.

“Do not just look down from the road,” Lim was quoted as saying. “Go down to the waterside, push through the vegetation and probe the area as you search.”

Judges also found that Lim knew some service members had entered the water in violation of search guidelines but failed to stop them, and that he failed to communicate safety instructions or provide safety equipment.

As in the first trial, the appeals court accepted the special counsel team’s argument that Lim’s orders and the lack of safety measures ultimately led to the dangerous in-water search that killed Chae.

The court likewise upheld Lim’s conviction for violating an order under the Military Criminal Act after determining that he continued to direct field operations and search methods even after operational control of the unit had been transferred to the Army.

The appeals court, however, rejected part of the lower court’s underlying reasoning without altering Lim’s conviction or sentence.

The lower court had cited Lim’s order to Park to continue the operation, issued even after the Army instructed the unit to withdraw, as grounds for conviction. The appeals court found it difficult to conclude that Park's continuation of the operation stemmed from Lim’s exercise of operational control.

BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [kim.hayoon1@joongang.co.kr]