A Private from the Marine Corps 1st Division, who was undergoing recruit training, was apprehended by military and police authorities approximately four hours after leaving his unit without authorization and fleeing aboard a KTX train.

According to the Marine Corps on the 8th, Private A escaped the base by climbing over the perimeter fence of the Marine Corps 1st Division located in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, that afternoon. Private A was undergoing 'adaptation training,' a program in which new recruits adapt to unit life alongside their peers for three to seven days before being assigned to operational units. Adaptation training is a process designed to familiarize service members with the atmosphere and discipline of the unit before they are deployed to field duty after completing boot camp.

When fellow soldiers confirmed Private A's absence and immediately reported it, the unit identified the circumstances of his departure through closed-circuit (CC) TV footage. It was confirmed that after leaving the base, Private A headed straight to Pohang Station and boarded a KTX train bound for Seoul. At the time, Private A was reportedly wearing a military uniform but was not armed.

Military police analyzed CCTV footage from around the base and along his travel route to track his movements and launched a joint search with relevant agencies, including the railway police. As a result of the tracking, Private A was apprehended approximately four hours after the AWOL incident while traveling on a train at Daejeon Station.

A Marine Corps official stated that military police are currently investigating the exact circumstances of the unauthorized absence and plan to take strict action in accordance with the law and regulations.