The following news story was among the top five most commented on Nate in the past week, about the tragic death of a soldier who was about to be discharged from the army. While some netizens offered their condolences, some were quick to stir up the regionalism debate as previously covered on koreaBANG.

From Nate:

Just before finishing his service, a conscript was beaten to death by some university students for ‘staring’ at them.

The two university students were arrested for beating the soldier on his final leave of absence before finishing his military service, to death for staring at them while walking.

The Jeollanam Mokpo police, arrested Mr. Jo and his accomplice who are currently enrolled at a university in the area. Police announced that the two had been charged with manslaughter and held for 10 days.

Mr. Jo and his accomplice, are accused of tackling, violently assaulting and killing active service member Mr. Kim (21) who was walking through the back alley of a pub in Sangdong, Mokpo at around 3:30am on April 7th, for ‘staring’ at them.

The police investigation found that the victim, Mr. Kim on his last break before finishing military service was killed.

The police said that after the autopsy the cause of death could be accurately determined.

Comments from Nate:

강지환:

Because he was a soldier he wouldn’t have been allowed to fight back….Fuck……….

박동영

I wonder how the parents must feel after two years waiting for their son to be discharged…. I can’t believe we live in a world where you can get killed just for making eye contact with someone….. Please accept my most sincere condolences

김성환:

Ahh… They are sons of bitches!! They should be shot!!

최영헌:

Were you one of the bullies in junior high and high school? I guess you still can’t stop being a bully. You can’t image what everyday life was like for that kid. You are just a petty bully, kekeke. Instead of doing those horrible things you should have just spend more time learning English words. Why not just get married, have some kids, do your job and lead a normal life? Get a hold of yourself. Anyway your future is pathetic.

배상호:

Jeolla people just murder people whenever they get angry. Just like with 518 there is going to be massive protests because of this soldier’s death.

박나연:

There are a lot of things happening for the stupidest reasons these days. If you bump someone on the shoulder it ends in rape and murder. If you look at someone you get beat to death. Things are so tense, someone might murder you for just looking at the ground!

박상진:

They killed a soldier, they should be shot according to the military law.

윤여울:

That’s the problem with our citizens. If you just look at them a little, they become violent. If you stare at foreigners, they say hello. We really need to change this. But why would you feel bad if someone just looks at you? I definitely wouldn’t!

이준경:

The best fortune of my life is that I was not born and don’t live in Jeolla province. So far I haven’t even stepped into Jeolla province, and in the future I will not go there even for travel, ke ke ke

박주혁:

From now on when you send soldiers on break, you should give them a gun to take with them…. They have to protect their own life, before protecting the country…

남송모:

Because it’s Jeolla province, they will kill you if you just look at them.

홍지호:

Travel guide to the People’s Republic of Jeolla

1. You have to use the standard language of Jeolla province. If by chance you happen to be found out to use words or accent of Gyeongsang, you might be assaulted by so called “democratization”. 2. If by any chance you are coming by vehicle with Gyeongsang province licence plate, you must protect your car by bulletproof material before entering the People’s Republic of Jeolla province. 3. If you decide to pretend to be a foreigner because you don’t have a sufficient command of the language of the People’s Republic of Jeolla province, you may have to pay an exorbitant price for room rent. Therefore, you have to be careful at all times. 4. Citizens of the Republic of Korea who chose to enter into the People’s Republic of Jeolla area must at all times keep uttering loudly “Long live the great teacher Kim Dae-jung [Kim was from Jeolla province]”. If you happen to leave out the honorary title of “Great Teacher”, you might get a plate of jjajangmyeon noodles [Korean Chinese-style noodles] landing in your face. So we advise caution. 5. Even for short distances you must ride a bulletproof car. In no case should you take a boat anywhere. If you are unlucky, you might be thrown out into the sea at Heuksando island. If your luck is good, you might be forced to live as a slave for over 20 years and you might succeed in escaping at the end, but we still strongly recommend that you do not take a boat in the People’s Republic of Jeolla. 6. As the first thing after entering the People’s Republic of Jeolla you must visit the Kim Dae-jung Convention Centre. If while visiting the Kim Dae-jung Convention Centre you happen to skip the honorary title of the Great Teacher and thoughtlessly call him just by name or if you frown or express dissatisfaction, in that very instant you may fall a victim to the dagger. It is imperative that visitors pay particular care while visiting the Centre.

송한섭:

I don’t want to arouse regionalism, but there is so many various incidents in Jeolla that it’s scary. Their way of speaking is like that as well ㅠㅠ scary Jeollanam province ㅠㅠ

주민혁:

It’s the fault of the soldierㅡㅡHow could he have gone to Jeolla province without a weaponㅡㅡ

박현우:

Jeolla people originally really hate soldiers and police. You would have to meet Jeolla people to understand, but really when they pass a person in a police uniform, even without any reason they silently curse them. Police or whatever, if you are so unhappy just go and talk to them straight or so… Because of you, even I have to get irritated like this.

차가영: