A malfunctioning safety control system caused a naval gun to be accidentally fired from a warship and seriously injure a seaman in January, Navy officials said Tuesday.

Abrasion caused slipperiness between older and newer parts of the safety control system, leading to the accident. The 21-year-old seaman of the 2nd Fleet Command, surnamed Oh, remains in critical condition.

The officials also pointed out that several crewmembers failed to comply with safety rules concerning the removal of a piece of ammunition stuck in a malfunctioning gun, resulting in the injury.

Oh was hit by a shell fired from the 76-caliber gun on a guided missile warship in the West Sea on Jan. 21.

He was standing on the deck near the weapon as other sailors tried to remove the shells loaded in the malfunctioning gun for safety reasons. The gun malfunctioned due to a loosened nut in a component of the gun, officials said.

The Navy said that it would take disciplinary action against those who failed to adhere to safety rules, and that it would increase the frequency of the regular overhaul of its warships from once every 12 years to every six years.

The gun in question was installed on the warship in the early 2000s following a major overhaul after being used for some 21 years on a different warship. It was manufactured in Italy and upgraded by a Korean defense firm.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)