S. Korea captures rogue sergeant who killed 5

22-year-old soldier shoots himself but survives after deadly rampage

The South Korean army captured a soldier on Monday who it says killed five other soldiers and then fled into the forest where he holed up with a rifle for two days before shooting himself as pursuers closed in.

The massive manhunt ended when the 22-year-old sergeant, surnamed Yim, shot himself in the upper left chest as his father and brother approached, pleading with him to surrender, a Defense Ministry official said. Yim was taken to a hospital but his life wasn't in danger, according to the official, who could not be named because of ministry rules.

Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said the soldier would be handed to military investigators later. Soldiers retrieved Yim's rifle and ammunition at the site.

Troops had been chasing Yim since authorities said he killed five fellow soldiers and wounded seven on Saturday night. He then fled his frontline unit with his standard-issue K2 assault rifle.

He fired on the soldiers chasing him on Sunday, injuring a platoon leader. On Monday, officials said a South Korean soldier was wounded by suspected friendly fire.

Earlier on Monday, troops surrounding Yim in the forest tossed him a cellphone so he could talk to his father. His parents went to the area to try to persuade him to surrender.

Yim was scheduled to complete his nearly two years of mandatory military service in September.

Initial personality tests in April of last year put Yim within a group of soldiers who need special attention and are unfit for frontline duty, according to the defense ministry. But tests last November concluded he had improved and could serve in a frontline area.

(China Daily 06/24/2014 page11)