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Marine Corps sergeant dies after being shot

Published: 13 Sep. 2025, 15:37 Updated: 14 Sep. 2025, 11:08

Logo for the Korean Marine Corps [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A Marine Corps sergeant died Saturday after being shot in the head at a unit on an island off the country's west coast, military officials said.

The 21-year-old was found bleeding from the gunshot wound to the forehead behind the wheel of a vehicle he was driving, according to the military.

The Marine, assigned as a transport soldier, had been deployed earlier in the day for a detailed coastal search operation on Daecheong Island in Incheon, about 30 kilometers west of Seoul, officials said.

He was critically injured when discovered and pronounced dead around 9 a.m. before he could be taken to a hospital.

The Marine Corps said the shooting is believed to have occurred around 7:03 a.m. The round was confirmed to be live, but it remains unclear whether the shot was the result of an accidental discharge.

The military police and police will jointly investigate the case at the site to determine an exact cause of the incident, it added.

The death is the latest in a series of firearm-related incidents in the military.

On Aug. 23, an Army sergeant first class at a front-line guard post died by suicide with his rifle. On Sept. 2, a captain at the Korea Army Academy in Yeongcheon also killed himself with a rifle. On Monday, a sergeant from an Army communications unit in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul, was found dead in a dormitory after leaving a note saying he had been bullied.

Yonhap