Ganghwa County and Military Death Accident Truth-Finding Committee Strengthen Cooperation

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Ganghwa County announced on the 8th that it will work in close cooperation with the Presidential Military Death Accident Truth-Finding Committee to enable more bereaved families of military personnel to file petitions for investigation.

The Committee receives petitions from bereaved families and witnesses regarding death accidents that occur in the military, and conducts fair and objective investigations to establish the truth. The Committee's activities will end on September 13, next year, and the petition filing deadline is September 13 of this year.

The scope of applications includes not only so-called "military suspicious deaths" where the cause of death is unclear, but also encompasses all types of death accidents that occur in the military, including accidental deaths, deaths in service, and suicides.

In particular, with the 2014 amendment to the Military Personnel Management Act, cases of suicide during military service due to unit-related factors such as beatings, abusive conduct, or overwork can now be recognized as "in-service death" with the state accepting responsibility.

Yoo Cheon-ho, Governor of Ganghwa County, stated, "I understand that there are a considerable number of bereaved families in our region who have lost their children in the military for whatever reason and live their entire lives with unresolved grief," and added, "Through fair investigation and truth-finding, I will cooperate with the Committee in various ways so that the deceased and bereaved families can receive proper honor recovery and appropriate treatment."