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Marine sergeant's death raises alarms about military mental health services

Published: 14 Sep. 2025, 20:26

A Marine Corps drill is held on Aug. 6 in Pohang, North Gyeongsang. [NEWS1]

Military investigators are looking into the possibility that a Marine sergeant who died Saturday in a shooting incident on Daecheong Island in Incheon may have taken his own life. The death adds to growing concern over gaps in the military’s mental health safety net following a string of recent fatalities.

According to investigators on Sunday, the 21-year-old Marine sergeant was found with a gunshot wound inside a military vehicle near the island’s coast on Saturday morning and died while receiving emergency treatment. He had been deployed for a coastal search operation and reportedly boarded the vehicle ahead of his unit after the mission ended.

The military is focusing on witness accounts that only one gunshot was heard and that the magazine contained two blank rounds and live ammunition. Officials are also investigating whether proper firearm safety checks had been conducted.

“Following the incident, a forensic inspection and autopsy were carried out in the presence of the bereaved family, a joint military-police team and the National Human Rights Commission,” the Marine Corps said Sunday afternoon in a briefing. "Funeral procedures are being held at the Armed Forces Capital Hospital with the family’s consent."

Three officers dead in two weeks

The Marine sergeant’s death follows a series of suicides among officers in recent weeks. On Sept. 8, an Army staff sergeant in Goyang, Gyeonggi, was found dead in a military apartment with a suicide note.

On Sept. 2, an Army captain serving as a training officer at the Korea Army Academy in Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang, died of a gunshot wound near Suseong Lake in Daegu. A suicide note alleging bullying within the unit was released, and authorities began investigations based on the letter. The fact that he had carried a K2 rifle and live rounds from the academy to the lake also raised questions about firearm control.

A Marine Corps drill is held on Aug. 6 in Pohang, North Gyeongsang. [NEWS1]

On Aug. 23, an Army sergeant was found with a gunshot wound at a front-line guard post in the Army’s 15th Infantry Division under the 2nd Corps. He was transported to a hospital but died.

Defense Minister Ahn Kyu-baek ordered military leaders on Sept. 5 to “fully implement customized suicide prevention measures and institutional responses to prevent further incidents.” But deaths have continued.

According to Rep. Yu Yong-weon of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly’s defense committee, the number of enlisted soldiers receiving psychiatric treatment at military hospitals fell from 55,312 in 2021 to 48,568 last year. He noted, however, that the decline reflected fewer conscripts and did not mean the issue was resolved. During the same period, the number of noncommissioned officers and junior officers receiving psychiatric care rose from 4,985 to 6,497.

“Unlike in the past, when mental health problems were concentrated among privates and privates first class, the issue now appears across all ranks," said Baik Myung-jae, a psychiatry professor at Kyung Hee University Hospital who served in the military for nine years. "Military counselors are unable to cover every unit, which leaves blind spots. Narrowing those gaps is essential.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY SHIM SEOK-YONG [[email protected]]