National Human Rights Commission of Korea Annual Report 2021 matter of law that led to that decision. For this reason, it concluded that the police failed to do its due diligence in notifying the reason for not sending the case to the prosecution and, by so doing, infringed upon the petitioner’s right to know. B. The military14) ■ ‌Claim to investigate cause of death and recover reputation of soldier who died while in military service On June 22, the Commission recommended the Minister of National Defense to re-assess a conclusion by the Committee for Examination of Killed or Wounded in Action and Line-of-Duty Deaths or Injury that a soldier who had died while on leave was not killed in action or in the line of duty (21-jinjeong-0267900). In June 2020, a month before he died, the soldier noted in his diary how tired he felt after three days of consecutive watch-keeping. He was also found to have asked for curtains to be replaced in the barracks because sunlight was making it hard to sleep (a complaint shared by other soldiers) and was cautioned a few times for dozing off during duty. Despite these facts, the Examination Committee concluded his death to be one from a natural cause on the ground that no correlation could be drawn between his death and his military duty. However, examination to determine line-of-duty death differs from investigation by investigative authorities to find the causes of death or determine accountability for neglect; as such, for suicide cases, the requirement should not be limited to whether there was presence of verbal abuse, cursing, or other irregularities by seniors in barracks. Line-of-duty deaths must be determined considering whether the deceased was in the line of duty or in education or training in direct relation to the defense and security of the nation, or protection of the life and property of the people. Given these considerations, because a soldier’s death is unavoidably tied to his or her performing military duties, it is advised that the death be recognized as line-of-duty death, unless other special circumstances say differently. If, nevertheless, the current statutes do not support such a decision, and if at the least it can be presumed, from direct and indirect evidence or 14) Military-related human rights violations and discrimination included in Collection of Key Decisions 104