Army deserter nabbed for killing his mother

An Army deserter addicted to online games has been arrested on charges of killing his mother and setting fire to her body, military police said Friday.

The 21-year-old private first class identified only by his surname Kang, allegedly murdered his 54-year-old mother at their residence in Seoul and burned her body on Jan. 22, while failing to return to his unit in the country's eastern province of Gangwon after a leave, according to the military police.

The enlistee "hit his mother on the head more than 10 times with a hammer. Then he went out to withdraw some money and buy snacks before returning home, and enjoyed comic books and fantasy novels online while eating the snacks," an investigator said, requesting anonymity.

"He then entered her mother's room again and set afire the blanket covering her body," he said. "He even used an aerosol spray to build a tongue of flame."

After running away from his home, he had wandered around the capital area before being caught by police on Wednesday. The military police formally arrested him after getting a court warrant later in the day.

"He admitted to what he had done to his mother, but remained silent on what prompted him to do such a horrible thing," the investigator said.

The enlistee was found to be on the list of soldiers requiring extra care, as his personality tests found that he shows signs of suffering from mental illnesses and depression.

Being classified as Class-A soldiers bans the conscripts from frontline duties, but it does not mean they are exempted or discharged from the mandatory two-year military service.

"As he was not very good at his duties in his artillery unit, he was specially mentored by his senior colleague. No specific signs were detected that he had been having a hard time adapting to military life," the investigator said.

But his mother had told the military after the personality tests that he had been bullied by his friends while attending school.

"Since the age of 17, when he dropped out of high school, he had been addicted to playing computer games," the investigator said. "One day before the alleged crime, he played the role-playing game, League of Legends, all night."

The matricide case is the latest in a series of gruesome incidents involving at-risk enlistees. In June, an Army sergeant went on a shooting rampage at a front-line border outpost after allegedly being ignored and bullied by his superiors and comrades.

As part of efforts to better manage the troops, the military conducts personality tests on draftees and classifies at-risk soldiers into three categories. These soldiers are considered to require extra care and have relatively unstable mental state and family backgrounds. (Yonhap)