Former division commander Lim Seong-geun, who was brought to trial over the line-of-duty death of Private First Class Chae Su-geun (a private at the time of death), was also sentenced to three years in prison on appeal.
The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 4-3 (Presiding Judges Jeon Ji-won, Kim In-gyeom and Seong Ji-yong) on the 7th found the Marine Corps commanders at the time of the accident guilty of occupational negligence resulting in death or injury and violating orders under the Military Criminal Act.
The former division commander Lim was sentenced to three years in prison. Former 7th Brigade Commander Park Sang-hyeon, who oversaw the flood site, and former Artillery 11th Battalion Commander Choi Jin-gyu were each sentenced to one year and six months in prison. Former Artillery 7th Battalion Commander Lee Yong-min, the direct superior of the Headquarters Company of the Artillery 7th Battalion to which Private First Class Chae belonged, was sentenced to 10 months in prison, and former Artillery 7th Battalion Headquarters Company Commander Jang was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years. All sentences matched those in the first trial.
The court found that as the superior unit commander of Private First Class Chae, who died in the line of duty at the flood site in Yecheon County, North Gyeongsang Province, on July 19, 2023, former division commander Lim had a duty to protect the life and bodily safety of the troops, but by issuing instructions for an active search, he led to a dangerous underwater search.
The charge that former division commander Lim violated a fragmentary order to transfer operational control to the Army at the time and exercised command authority by giving on-site guidance and directing search methods (violation of orders under the Military Criminal Act) was also found guilty.