A conscripted policeman was found dead in Dongducheon, north of Seoul, early Thursday after being swept away in flash floods while trying to rescue a drowning civilian.

Jo Min-su, 21, was lost in the rapids at around 9:35 p.m. Wednesday while trying to save a man hanging onto a fence of a U.S. army base in the swelled waters of Shincheon Stream. 

His body was found about 5 hours later, some 100 meters downstream from the spot where he went missing.

The stranded man was rescued by Jo’s colleagues and U.S. forces.

Jo had approached the 53-year-old man surnamed Kang, who cried for help. He and his company spotted the man while being evacuated to Dongducheon Police Station as their lodgings were submerged chest high by floods caused by the heavy downpour.

According to Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, Jo was a conscript who joined the police force as an alternative to mandatory military service when he was a university freshman. He had just one month left before being discharged from his 21-month duty, the agency said.

At the time of the accident, a bridge over the stream was at a risk of being flooded, with the water surging past the alert level and about 600 residents evacuated from low-lying areas near the river.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)