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The nation is shocked and appalled at the gruesome “murder” of a private soldier, which took place in April this year.

A 23-year-old Army private first, identified only as his surname Yoon, died on April 7 after months of relentless bullying and physical abuse at his barracks in Gyeonggi Province. Yoon was allegedly forced to swallow a tube of toothpaste and lick spit on the floor.

He was also found to have been forced to apply Antiphlamine, an anti-inflammatory ointment, to his genitals in front of his colleagues. His colleagues beat him until Yoon fainted. They gave him an IV so that Yoon could recover faster and they could start beating him again.

A sergeant, identified as Lee, allegedly blocked Yoon’s parents from visiting their son, absurdly claiming that he was short of “mileages.” Lee even reportedly told Yoon that he would kidnap and sell Yoon’s mother as a slave and make his father’s company go out of business if he divulged the horrendous abuses.

Yoon was physically abused as many as 90 times in just one day, according to witnesses.

He died of asphyxiation after being hit in the chest by six of his senior colleagues while eating some snacks. The assault caused a piece of food to obstruct his airway.

Defense Minister Han Min-koo publicly apologized Monday over the death of Yoon and pledged to carry out a further investigation into the case.

“Why did you try to cover it up even though the murder took place on April 7?” Kim Moo-sung, chairman of the ruling Saenuri Party, scolded Han Sunday at a meeting of senior Saenuri lawmakers.

Han claims that he belatedly learned of Yoon’s tragic death on July 31 from news reports after the Center for Military Human Rights made a press conference calling for a proper investigation into the case.