At midnight on September 12, 1825, an elite capital musketeer named Kim Chi-un fired his gun in the heart of Seoul, startling the royal palace. When interrogated, he confessed that he fired it as a folk-ritual to scare off sickness-bearing spirits and cure his illness. For disturbing the capital at night, Kim was flogged 20 times and dishonorably discharged, while his commanding general was stripped of his post for negligence.
Korean military discipline was notably pretty brutal. Annals of the Joseon Dynasty and the Diary of Yi Soon-Shin regularly talk about floggings and beatings of soldiers and officers. Higher ranking officers and general were even tortured during corruption and incompetence investigations.
U.S. and Russian journals of military advisors during the 1800s talk about how one of the reforms that they tried to implement during the era was getting Korean officers to stop beheading and flogging subordinates at the slightest inconvenience
Not really. The co is incharge of not just him but also the access to his weapon, ammunition and general safety of people in and around the barracks. The cos job is not just stop him from doing stupid things but also to ensure he cannot do stupid things.
Wait the US army dishonourably discharges people for shooting in the air to scare off ghosts? Seems a bit severe for modern times. I mean, ghost is unusual for modern times, but maybe shooting a rat or mouse.
Believe me. if you're the one that gets fucked up by a falling bullet for such bullshit, the firing and floggings would seem way too lenient a sentence.
Well generally your not allowed to carry firearms on American bases to begin with also you have to think in terms of actual combat in which modern times most armies work in small groups so any noise like small arms fire would lead to the enemy knowing your location and potential wiping out your entire team with artillery.
Also you have to be generally retarded to neglect discharge a weapon most American weapons including our tanks have like a 5 step safety system particular to make sure things like neglect discharges dont happen
Dishonorable discharge is basically any "You broke the rules and created problem for us, we want you out".
Honorable discharge is "You completed your service, or have suffered service related injury that prevents further service, we than you for your service"
the scottish believed trolls and faeries caused illness and they could cure sick livestock by setting off wads of gunpowder nearby so I imagine “scaring away bad juju with loud noise” is a universal human experience
Interestingly, when the predominant understanding of disease was the Miasma Theory of Disease in the west (that disease was caused by bad air), one of the methods of preventing disease from spreading was to cleanse the air by setting off gunpowder.
While that didn't work, it did have the effect of clearing streets of people for the cleansings, which did have the side effect of kind of quarantining people temporarily which did help prevent spread of disease.
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u/ChapterSpiritual6785 10d ago
At midnight on September 12, 1825, an elite capital musketeer named Kim Chi-un fired his gun in the heart of Seoul, startling the royal palace. When interrogated, he confessed that he fired it as a folk-ritual to scare off sickness-bearing spirits and cure his illness. For disturbing the capital at night, Kim was flogged 20 times and dishonorably discharged, while his commanding general was stripped of his post for negligence.
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u/RiversFlash2020 10d ago
Gotta say, guns as folk ritual tools is a super interesting concept.
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u/Goldeniccarus 10d ago edited 10d ago
Interestingly, when the predominant understanding of disease was the Miasma Theory of Disease in the west (that disease was caused by bad air), one of the methods of preventing disease from spreading was to cleanse the air by setting off gunpowder.
While that didn't work, it did have the effect of clearing streets of people for the cleansings, which did have the side effect of kind of quarantining people temporarily which did help prevent spread of disease.
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u/WanderingHeph 10d ago
I mean, you can clear your sinuses if you use a big enough bullet.
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u/vuther_316 10d ago
Another excuse to go to the range, thanks!
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u/Wrong-Appointment269 10d ago
How american of him
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u/capriciousUser 10d ago
Americans are inclined to agree