Five soldiers were killed and five more wounded in South Korea Saturday after an army sergeant apparently opened fire on his fellow troops.
"The army sergeant opened fire near a border guard post on the eastern coast of the country. It's not yet clear what motivated the attack." (Via BBC)
South Korean military officials say the shooting took place at a military outpost near the border with North Korea. The shooter fled the scene after the attack and is still believed to be on the run and armed.
Mass killings at military outposts are not unprecedented in South Korea, especially near the troubled border region. Sky News notes a similar rampage by a soldier in 2005 killed eight people and wounded several more.
The New York Times writes these killings underscore the difficulty of maintaining South Korea's 650,000 strong military, which fills its ranks by requiring two years of service from all able-bodied South Korean men.
"Increasingly, the military's ranks are filled with young men who no longer consider their 21-month compulsory service a 'sacred duty,' but rather an inconvenient interruption of their civilian life and careers."
The shooting took place in the eastern Gangwon province near the town of Goseong. There is no evidence of involvement from North Korea.
