I feel I understood most of the story, except for the scene where the Sergeant threw a pair of dog tags in the field when no one else was looking. Was there any reference to the dog tags earlier in the film that I missed? Whose dog tags were they? How could they be the dog tags for the dead radio operator they were looking for if they never found his body?
it was lt. choi's lighter that fell on the ground when he was amongst all the gravestones (which were no longer there).
shareThe sergeant was instructed to finish the case 'cleanly' (there is a flash back scene earlier in the film). He seperated the group in two after arguing with the LT. I think he made up the tags that belong to the people they were looking for, threw them in the feild for private...(dont remember the name) to find them= mission accomplished and go home.
shareLt.Choi and Sgt Jin had an arguement, Lt.Choi wanted to find the missing radio operator's dog tags, and find out what really happened whilst maintaining the platoons safety. Sgt.Jin however, was instructed to "close the case, even if you have to make it up" and handed an anonymous dogtag by a superior earlier on.
I expect it is this dogtag he throws in the field after the platoon split into 2 teams, so that he could claim he achieved the objective of finding the tags without Lt.Choi being around to supervise.