Died of heat stroke while participating in a unit marathon last September... 'To save someone else's son'

Died of heat stroke while participating in a unit marathon last September... “To save someone else’s son.”

(Pocheon = Yonhap News) Reporter Choi Jae-hoon = "Mom, you had to walk this road at least once, Soo-hyuk. I wanted to hug you on the day you were discharged if you were alive."

On the morning of the 3rd, the mother of the late Private Ji Soo-hyuk, who visited Pocheoncheon, Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, shed tears over her longing for her son who did not return.

This is the path where Private Su-hyeok Ji (Corporal Chu-seo), who died of heat stroke while participating in a unit marathon in the sweltering heat last September, collapsed.

This month, when Private Ji Soo-hyuk would have been discharged if he had been alive, the bereaved family walked the same path that Private Ji ran here in memory of Private Ji and in hopes that a similar incident would not happen again.

Private Ji's mother said, "I am so sick and scared that my son, who is supposed to come back safely, is approaching as his discharge date approaches and he will safely take off his military uniform and return to his mother's arms." She added, "Mom, I will do everything I can to ensure that your name is not left behind in an accident and that you become the reason for saving someone else's son."

At the memorial event on this day, 26 people participated, including the bereaved family of Private Su-hyeok Ji, the parents of the late Private Sang-hyeon Kim, who committed suicide after being bullied by groups at the front-line GOP, the mother of the late Se-won Park, who died in a gun accident at a checkpoint in Gupabal, Seoul in 2015, and members of the Parents' Association for the Safe Return of Children (Amal Damal), a group of parents who sent their children to the military.

In order to condemn the military's failure to properly follow safety rules in running the marathon at the time, they assigned safety guards to each section and walked together, encouraging each other to stop running if they got tired at any time.

The marathon in which Private Ji died was planned by the Army's 8th Division to commemorate the victory of the Battle of Yeongcheon in the Korean War.

The highest temperature on the day rose to 31 degrees, and it rained the day before and the humidity was about 70%, making it an unfriendly environment for running, but the military did not properly prepare for emergency situations such as heat stroke.

In particular, there was no 'risk assessment' in the military to identify and prepare for risk factors in advance when conducting training or operations.

The military doctor was on vacation for the day, and the nursing officer was running as a contestant.

Private Ji, who did not have time to practice running due to his usual duties as a cook, eventually collapsed and died at the 8km mark.

The police sent a total of four people, including the division commander at the time of the unit, on charges of professional negligence manslaughter, and some supplementary investigations are in progress at the request of the prosecution.

The division commander at the time who planned the event remained in his position even after the transfer, but was removed from his duties after a non-commissioned officer from the 8th Division was found dead.