Special Investigation Team for the Late Lee Yeram Conducts Search and Seizure on Ministry of National Defense Prosecutors' Office

On the morning of November 25 last year, the father of the late Air Force Master Sergeant Lee Yeram, who made an extreme choice after suffering secondary sexual harassment damage in front of Myeongdong Cathedral in Jung-gu, Seoul, is holding a one-person protest urging the introduction of a special investigation.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The special investigation team led by Special Prosecutor Ahn Miyoung (55, 25th Judicial Research and Training Institute), investigating the death case of sexual violence victim the late Sergeant Lee Yeram of the Air Force, conducted a search and seizure of the Ministry of National Defense prosecution's forensic investigation department on the 30th.

On that day, a representative of the special investigation team stated, "All digital data secured during the investigation of Sergeant Lee Yeram's death case by the Ministry of National Defense prosecution is subject to search and seizure," he said.

Previously, Sergeant Lee, who belonged to the Air Force 20th Fighter Wing, was sexually harassed by a senior non-commissioned officer in March last year and reported it, but she took her own life on May 21 last year while the military prosecution investigation was ongoing.

The Ministry of National Defense filed criminal charges against a total of 25 people last October and sent 15 to trial. However, the command, including Jeon Iksoo, head of the Air Force Legal Office who supervised the military police and military prosecutors of the 20th Fighter Wing responsible for the initial investigation and the military prosecution, was not prosecuted due to insufficient evidence, causing controversy.

The special investigation team, launched earlier this month, conducted search and seizures on the Air Force Headquarters, the 20th Fighter Wing, the 15th Special Mission Wing, and the Air Force Investigation Unit on the 28th, marking the first forced investigation since the team was formed.

The special investigation team recently requested a "psychological autopsy" from the National Forensic Service to analyze the cause of Sergeant Lee's extreme choice. A psychological autopsy is an investigative method that examines the psychological and behavioral changes the deceased exhibited leading up to their extreme choice by reviewing their writings during life and interviewing bereaved family members, aiming to infer the reasons for the extreme choice.