Father who lost son in military seeks revenge, breaks into senior soldier's home with weapon

A man's son died by suicide while serving in the military. The father suspected that a senior soldier had subjected his son to abuse and believed the military was failing to properly investigate the circumstances of his son's death.

The father, identified only as A, made up his mind: he would confront the senior soldier himself and hold him accountable.

A hired a private detective to track down the senior soldier's home address. In April, he gathered a weapon and restraining tools and went to the residence. He slipped inside the building by following a cleaning worker through the main entrance.

The senior soldier was home with his father. A rang the doorbell and, when asked who was there, said he was from the court, posing as a court official. When the soldier's father opened the door, A pushed his way into the living room.

"Get down on the floor," A ordered, then bound the father's hands with the restraining tool. He moved to the senior soldier's bedroom door, raised the weapon and shouted: "If you don't come out, your father dies. If you've done nothing wrong, come out." He then shoved the door open.

No serious injuries resulted. While A was struggling at the bedroom door, the soldier's father managed to free himself from his restraints and grappled with A. The father sustained some injuries in the struggle but ultimately overpowered him.

A was indicted on charges of aggravated home invasion, aggravated assault in the course of unlawful detention and aggravated intimidation — serious charges reflecting that he had entered a residence armed with a weapon, injured a victim while attempting to detain him and made threats.

Under sentencing guidelines set by the Supreme Court's Sentencing Commission, the recommended range for A's combined charges ran from one year to two years, seven months and 20 days in prison.

The criminal division No. 1 of the Jeonju branch of Changwon District Court, presided over by Judge Lee Seung-il, sentenced A in July to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, according to legal sources.

In explaining the sentence, the court said A "committed the crime in order to carry out personal retaliation, believing that the truth about his son's accident in the military was not being properly investigated," but added that "even taking those circumstances into account, an act of private revenge cannot be tolerated."

The court also said A "prepared for the crime in advance — personally acquiring various weapons and other tools and obtaining the victims' home address through a private detective" — and that "his culpability is not light, given that he entered the home by posing as a court official."

In A's favor, the court noted that he had admitted his wrongdoing and had no prior criminal record beyond two traffic fines. It also found that the victims' injuries were relatively minor and that the victims had indicated they did not wish to see A punished.

The ruling is now final. Neither side appealed the first-instance verdict.

Meanwhile, A has filed a criminal complaint with investigators against his son's senior soldier.