▲ This file photo, taken Dec. 12, 2023, shows a bust of late Lt. Col. Kim Oh-rang, who was killed in a gunfight while defending his commander against mutineers during the coup led by then Maj. Gen. Chun Doo-hwan on Dec. 12, 1979. (Yonhap)

late service member-decoration

Defense ministry seeks to award military order to late lieutenant colonel killed in 1979 military coup

SEOUL, March 31 (Yonhap) -- The defense ministry said Tuesday it will seek to award a national order of military merit to a late lieutenant colonel who died while fighting against rebelling forces during a military coup in 1979, recognizing him as having been "killed in action."

Late Lt. Col. Kim Oh-rang was killed in a gunfight while defending his commander against mutineers during the coup led by then Maj. Gen. Chun Doo-hwan on Dec. 12, 1979.

Earlier in the day, the Cabinet approved a motion to cancel an Order of National Security Merit that was previously awarded to Kim in a move to grant him the Order of Military Merit, according to the ministry.

The Order of Military Merit, considered one of the highest military orders in the nation, is conferred on service members in recognition of their sacrifice in battle or in times of war.

Kim was awarded the Samil Medal of the Order of National Security Merit in 2014, as his death was recorded as a death in the line of duty.

But a presidential commission on military deaths requested the defense ministry in 2022 to recognize the nature of his death as being killed in action.

Under military law, service members are defined as being killed in action if they die due to engagement with the enemy or while preventing disturbances to public peace, such as a rebellion.

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