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South Korea soldier shootings

June 21, 2014

A South Korean soldier has shot dead five members of his own unit at a guard post on the border with North Korea. There was no immediate indication of what triggered the killings.

https://p.dw.com/p/1CNbB
A symbolic image of soldiers in silhouette on the border between South and North Korea.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo

A manhunt was launched for the soldier following the shooting, which happened on Saturday evening Korean time (1200 UTC).

"He shot dead five fellow soldiers, wounded five others and then fled the scene with his rifle and ammunition," an army spokesman told the AFP news agency.

The spokesman added the wounded soldiers were taken to a military hospital.

There was no immediate indication of what could have triggered the shooting at the guard post in Gangwon province, on the eastern section of the heavily-armed border between North and South Korea. There was also no indication that North Korea was involved in the incident.

All able-bodied men in South Korea are required to complete about two years of military service. The conscription system provides the country with an armed force of more than 600,000 troops.

North and South Korea remain technically in a state of war, with the Korean War of 1950-53 having ended with a ceasefire, not a peace treaty.

se/pfd (AP, AFP, Reuters)

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