A witness for soldier Yoon's case from the 28th division testified against the defending assailants who were involved in Yoon's murder case. Mr.Kim, who was a soldier at the time of the attacks, came back to testify for the case after he had been discharged from the military. (Warning: following details and pictures may be graphic).
Mr. Kim, who was also a private at the time of Yoon's beatings, watched the defendants abuse and attack Yoon in the medical room for about a month long. Mr.Kim testified that the defendants, such as Sergeant Lee (28), had beat Yoon multiple times a day in the face, chest, and stomach, pushed him inside a narrow space and stepped on him, prevented him from sleeping for days, as well as other cruel treatments until his death.
Mr.Kim said, "When Sergeant Lee would get tired from beating him, he would tell the other soldiers to hit him and in general, he instructed everyone to just beat Yoon. The other soldiers said, 'I hit him thinking of going to guardhouse,' and would harass Yoon."
While testifying for the case, Mr.Kim also recalled the horrifying day that Yoon had died. From the moment he woke up, Yoon was beaten and tortured and finally, he urinated on himself and fell to his knees.
They would have Yoon on his stomach and beat him on the back and his side. If food came out of his mouth as they punched his face, they would make him lick it and even after he fell to the ground, they would check his pulse and say that it was normal and then proceed with the beatings. As Mr.Kim's testimony continued, the audience let out a gasp unintentionally due to the gruesome details of the beatings.
Mr. Kim also revealed what the defendants had said, "What do we do, this is murder," and "Pretend like we didn't see anything," as Yoon was being taken to the hospital after he lost consciousness.
He ended his testimony with regret as he said, "I tried to tell the executive management about Yoon's situation and tried to stop the defendants but there was nothing I could do. Even at Yoon's funeral, I wanted to tell his family about the things that I saw but because of my status as a soldier, it was difficult."
During the testimony, Mr. Kim requested that the defendants not be present. Mr.Kim's testimony took place in a facility away from the court where the trial took place.
Yoon's father also appeared in the trial as a witness and read through a 7-page testimony that he had handwritten. He read, "My precious son whom I had in my 40s came back to me as a corpse full of beatings. I live every day in tears of guilt and longing because I wasn't able to protect the family that I had left."
The father also plead that the judges deliver a severe punishment for the defendants. He said, "I don't know when the military became a place where you had to protect yourself and not the nation. Please don't let my son's death go to waste and get rid of the beatings and cruel treatment [in the military] at it's roots."
The next trial for the case of Yoon's murder will be held on October 8th at 1 PM KST.
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