'Chaesangbyeong Case External Pressure Suspicion' Yoo Jae-eun Legal Affairs Manager's Term Extension Fails

The Ministry of National Defense has decided not to extend the term of Legal Affairs Officer Yoo Jae-eun, one of the key suspects in the alleged external pressure related to the death in the line of duty of Marine Corps Corporal Chae Mo.

According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 2nd, the open position of Legal Affairs Officer at the Ministry of National Defense is currently being publicly recruited through the Government Innovation Office's Nara Workplace platform.

Officer Yoo was appointed in August 2021. The term is three years, but it can be extended if performance is excellent. However, the Ministry of National Defense announced that Officer Yoo’s term will not be extended.

Officer Yoo is suspected of exerting external pressure by repeatedly calling Park Jung-hoon, former head of the Marine Corps Investigation Unit who conducted the initial investigation into Corporal Chae’s death in July-August last year, and demanding that the "suspect, charges, and crime names be removed" from the investigation report.

Yoo Jae-eun, Legal Affairs Manager of the Ministry of National Defense, attending the full meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly on August 21 last year. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

There is also suspicion that in August of the same year, Officer Yoo was involved in the illegal retrieval without a search warrant of investigation materials related to Corporal Chae’s case, which the Marine Corps Investigation Unit had transferred to the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency.

Officer Yoo has undergone two investigations by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials on charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights.

Extending the term of Officer Yoo, who is currently a suspect, could have posed a burden to both himself and the Ministry of National Defense. It is also reported that Officer Yoo did not wish to extend his term.

A Ministry of National Defense official stated, "Since the term has expired, we are following normal procedures to recruit a new person."