A South Korean army recruit was killed and an officer injured Tuesday when a grenade accidentally exploded during a training session, Seoul’s defence ministry said.
The explosion, which took place at around 9:50 am (1250 GMT), occurred “during a grenade throwing training” at a military unit in South Chungcheong Province, around 100 kilometres south of the capital Seoul, the ministry said in a statement.
The unit quickly transported the two injured men to a military hospital but “the trainee died,” the statement said, adding that “the officer is currently receiving emergency treatment and is conscious.”
For many young South Koreans, the policy of conscription is an unwanted and deeply resentful intrusion that interferes with studies or nascent careers, especially in a rapidly ageing society where the size of the workforce is dwindling by the year.
The death of conscripts on duty is sensitive for the government and military, with the case of a marine who died last year during floor relief work recently becoming politically charged, ahead of the April legislative elections.
A series of shooting incidents took place in the mid-2010s involving suicides and reservists turning their guns on other members of their unit.
