Suspicion of External Pressure Involvement to Block Transfer of Chaesangbyeong Case Records
Kim Gye-hwan, Commandant of the Marine Corps (Lieutenant General), who is suspected of exerting external pressure in the investigation related to the death of Marine Sergeant Chae Sang-byeong, was summoned to the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Division (PCC) on the 4th.
The PCC Investigation Division 4 (Chief Prosecutor Lee Dae-hwan) called Kim in the morning as a suspect on charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights and is currently investigating him. This comes about four months after the PCC conducted a search and seizure of Kim in January this year.
At around 9:42 a.m., Kim appeared at the PCC office in the Government Complex Gwacheon but remained silent in response to reporters' questions such as whether he had ever conveyed to Colonel Park Jeong-hoon that the VIP (President Yoon Seok-yeol) was enraged, or whether he had heard that the order to withhold the transfer was the will of the Presidential Office.
Kim is suspected of being involved in the process of exerting pressure from higher-ups on former Marine Corps Investigation Unit Commander Park Jeong-hoon (Colonel), who conducted the initial investigation into Sergeant Chae Sang-byeong's death in July-August last year.
The core of the suspicion is that when Park tried to transfer eight senior officers, including former 1st Marine Division Commander Im Seong-geun, to the police on charges of professional negligence resulting in death, the Presidential Office and other higher-ups intervened to withhold the transfer and reduce the number of suspects to two.
Marine Corps Commander Kim Gye-hwan is entering the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Department (PCC) at the Government Complex Gwacheon on the morning of the 4th to undergo investigation related to allegations of external pressure on the investigation of the death of Marine Corps Corporal Chae Mo. [Photo by Yonhap News]
Park initially planned to hold a press briefing on July 31 last year to announce the investigation results and transfer related materials to the Gyeongbuk Police Agency two days later, but it is known that Kim wanted to postpone the transfer until after former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop, who was on an overseas trip, returned.
After the briefing was canceled under the direction of former Minister Lee, Park claims that Kim said, "The Ministry of National Defense is asking to remove suspects and charges from the police transfer documents," and "There was a mention of the 1st Division investigation results at a VIP-hosted meeting at the Presidential Office in the morning, and after the VIP became enraged and spoke with former Minister Lee Jong-seop, this happened."
On the day this conversation took place, Kim is reported to have spoken with Park Jin-hee, military aide to the Minister of National Defense, and Lim Ki-hoon, secretary of the National Security Office.
On the other hand, Kim has completely denied these allegations during the military prosecution investigation, stating that "It seems to be a story fabricated by Park alone to escape the insubordination case," and "I never mentioned the VIP at all." He also denies having received or heard any instructions to remove suspects and charges from the documents to be handed over to the police.
Accordingly, the PCC is expected to focus on verifying the truth of the 'VIP enraged' statement and the instructions received from higher-ups in the Ministry of National Defense, including former Minister Lee. The PCC prepared a questionnaire of about 200 pages for the investigation.
Earlier, since the end of last month, the PCC has been intensifying suspect investigations by summoning Manager Yoo and former Deputy Director of the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters Park Kyung-hoon in succession. After completing the investigation of Kim, the investigation is expected to expand to higher-ups such as former Deputy Minister of National Defense Shin Beom-cheol and former Minister Lee Jong-seop.
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