Court: "Extreme Choice Due to Harsh Treatment Should Be Recognized as a Veteran Recipient"

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Ju Cheol-in] A ruling has been made that a soldier who made an extreme choice due to unbearable harsh treatment during military service should be recognized as a recipient of veterans' compensation.

The Administrative Division 1 of Daegu High Court (Chief Judge Kim Tae-hyun) announced on the 4th that it overturned the original ruling, which dismissed the lawsuit filed by the bereaved family of Sergeant A, who made an extreme choice while serving in the Marine Corps, against the head of the Daegu Regional Veterans Office seeking cancellation of the decision that denied the status of a veterans' compensation recipient, and ruled in favor of the plaintiff.

Sergeant A, who enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2005, made an extreme choice in November 2007 in a building in Daegu, shortly before his discharge.

The bereaved family applied to the Daegu Veterans Office for registration as a national merit recipient.

However, the Daegu Veterans Office decided that Sergeant A did not meet the criteria for veterans' compensation (death due to injury in military service), stating that it was difficult to recognize that his death was caused by duties or training directly related to national defense or other duties, and the family filed a lawsuit.

In the lawsuit, the bereaved family argued, "He suffered severe beatings and harsh treatment from senior soldiers, and even after becoming a sergeant, he participated in training on behalf of junior soldiers, causing significant work-related stress that led to the onset and worsening of conditions such as bipolar disorder, thus establishing a causal relationship between his death and military duties."

The first trial court stated, "There is no confirmation of excessive work or stress that would cause Sergeant A to develop a mental illness or lead to self-harm death, and considering that he made an extreme choice just before discharge, it is presumed that lifestyle changes related to discharge acted as environmental stress," and rejected the family's claims.

The appellate court's judgment was different.

The appellate court stated, "During military service, he endured harsh treatment such as beatings, verbal abuse, and insults that were humiliating to his dignity, causing extreme mental distress and work-related stress. It can be seen that he made an extreme choice in a state where normal cognitive ability, decision-making capacity, and mental restraint were significantly impaired, thus recognizing a substantial causal relationship between his duties and death."

Furthermore, "The deceased enlisted in the Marine Corps in a healthy state, and there is no evidence to acknowledge a history of mental illness before enlistment. Therefore, the environment of beatings and harsh treatment experienced during service likely acted as excessive stress, influencing the onset of Sergeant A's mental illness and probably being the underlying cause of his death," the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff.

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