Seoul, Oct 29 (IANS): A South Korean soldier was killed in an apparent suicide with a grenade near the western border with North Korea, military officials said on Thursday.
The incident took place at around 5.00 a.m. when the Private First Class moved about 100 metres away from a guard post where he and his fellow soldier were on patrol duty, The Korea Herald reported.
The 20-year-old was killed at the scene as a grenade he was holding went off soon after he moved away from the guard post.
Military authorities presumed that the soldier pulled out the grenade's arming pin by himself, and they are investigating the exact cause of the explosion.