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Recommended Notification of Belated Notification of Death in the Performance of Duties [2004] KRNHRC 25 (1 January 2004)

The Commission received a complaint about belated notification. The Republic of Korea
Army changed the cause of death of Mr. Min, who died during his military service, to
death at his post of duty from death from sickness, and notified the widowed wife of Mr.
Min of the change at a late date. As a result of the late notification, the widow could not
receive veteran's benefits for six and half years.

The Commission confirmed the fact that despite fact that the Military Merit for the Dead
and the Injury Review Committee of the Republic of Korea Army made four changes in
1996 and 1997 through which 9,756 soldiers out of 45,804 soldiers whose causes of death
had been attributed to sickness and accidental death, ex officio, were attributed to death on
duty, the army did not notify the bereaved families of the changes. The Commission, ex
officio, initiated an investigation on whether similar cases occur in the air force and the navy.
The results of the investigation showed that there were no reexaminations, ex officio, in
the air force and the navy, unlike the army. However, the air force and the navy reexamined
cases for which complaints were filed, and the navy changed 28 cases to death on duty,
and the air force made such changes for four cases. Given the circumstances, it was
possible that many military personnel whose deaths occurred on duty were attributed to
deaths from sickness or accidents with the air force and the navy.

The Commission recommended that all deaths of military personnel attributed to sickness
and accidents since the founding of the air force and the navy be reexamined.
The Commission decided that the army violated the right to know and right to honor of
the bereaved family concerned by not notifying the family of the change to death in action,
and recommended that the working-level officer responsible be disciplined and that
notification duties be implemented promptly in the future. The Commission requested legal
assistance from the Korean Bar Association to obtain compensation for damage.