Photo: Lieutenant Colonel Kim O-rang. Credit: Public domain.
On August 12, the Seoul Central District Court 서울중앙지방법원 ordered that the government must pay KRW 500m (USD 360k) in reparations to the family of Lieutenant Colonel Kim O-rang 김오랑 중령, who died on December 12, 1979 at age 35 while battling against the forces led by Chun Doo-hwan 전두환.
Kim, who was the chief of staff to Commander of the Special Warfare Command Jeong Byeong-ju 정병주 특전사령관, who attempted to stop Chun’s coup attempt. As the insurrectionist forces approached the Special Warfare Command, Kim had Jeong flee and was killed in a gunfight while attempting to hold off Chun’s soldiers. Kim was buried in a makeshift grave behind the Special Warfare Command, as the Chun dictatorship claimed that Jeong fired first.
Kim was later buried in the Seoul National Cemetery. In 2022, his death was officially reclassified as “killed in action 전사”, recognizing he died in a battle rather than by accident. The court recognized that Kim’s family was entitled to reparation based on the government’s cover-up of the circumstances of his death. Although the government argued that the statute of limitations has run, the court found that the limitation period was tolled until 2022, when the government officially recognized Kim’s death resulting from a battle against hostile forces.
