Burdened by 'False Statement'... Commander Kim Gye-hwan Refuses Confrontation Investigation

The confrontation investigation between Marine Corps Commander Kim Gye-hwan and former Marine Corps Investigation Unit Chief Park Jeong-hoon, whose testimonies conflicted over the 'VIP rage theory' during the investigation of Corporal Chae's line-of-duty death, was ultimately canceled due to refusal from Commander Kim's side.

The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Division, which is investigating allegations of external pressure on the investigation of Corporal Chae's death, announced on the afternoon of the 21st, "The investigation team attempted to conduct a confrontation between both parties, but it could not proceed due to refusal from Commander Kim's side."

Marine Corps Commander Kim Gye-hwan is entering the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Division at the Government Complex Gwacheon in Gyeonggi on the 21st to undergo investigation related to allegations of interference in the investigation of the death of Marine Corps Corporal Chae Mo. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The division stated, "Commander Kim's side explained that 'Having the highest commander responsible for the Marine Corps and his subordinate face each other to settle disputes while the Marine Corps is in an irrecoverable state would cause greater wounds to the Marine Corps and hinder the performance of its primary mission, so they refuse the confrontation.'

The fourth investigation division (Chief Prosecutor Lee Dae-hwan) re-summoned Commander Kim in the morning as a suspect on charges of abuse of authority and interrogated him. In the afternoon, former Chief Park was summoned and questioned as a witness. As the investigation team summoned both simultaneously, there was speculation that the confrontation investigation would determine the truth of the allegation that President Yoon Seok-yeol became enraged after receiving a report on Corporal Chae's case from the Marine Corps.

Typically, confrontation investigations proceed with the consent of both parties. When two people give conflicting testimonies about a single fact and present their claims before prosecutors or investigators, inconsistencies may arise in the statements of the party lying, or they may have to tell additional lies to cover previous ones, causing difficulties for the party making false claims.

On this day, Commander Kim cited reasons such as "the image of a superior and subordinate settling disputes could wound the Marine Corps," but his refusal to participate in the confrontation investigation is expected to work against him in future investigations and trials.

The interrogations of the two were conducted separately and concluded after 9 p.m. After reviewing the records, former Chief Park left the building around 10:30 p.m., and Commander Kim departed around 11:30 p.m.

Commander Kim, who came out after the investigation, did not respond at all to reporters' questions such as "Don't you think conducting a confrontation would actually benefit the Marine Corps?" and "Do you believe the theory of the president's rage is false?" just as he did when he appeared earlier that day.

Both individuals left for home sequentially after 10 p.m.

Commander Kim is suspected of being involved in the process of exerting upper-level pressure on former Chief Park, who was conducting the initial investigation into Corporal Chae's line-of-duty death in July and August of last year.

The core of the current allegation is that the presidential office and other higher-ups intervened to halt former Chief Park's attempt to transfer eight senior officers, including former Marine Corps 1st Division Commander Im Seong-geun, to the police on charges of professional negligence resulting in death, and instead reduced the number of suspects to two.

After former Chief Park reported the investigation results applying professional negligence resulting in death charges to eight senior officers, including the 1st Division Commander, to former Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop on July 30 last year, Commander Kim suddenly notified the cancellation of a media briefing and ordered a return to the unit the next day. Subsequently, Defense Ministry Legal Affairs Manager Yoo Jae-eun called former Chief Park and instructed him to "remove the suspects and charges."

Former Chief Park stated that after the briefing was canceled under former Minister Lee's orders, Commander Kim said, "The Defense Ministry told us to remove the suspects and charges from the police transfer documents," and added, "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, this happened."

On the other hand, Commander Kim fully denied these allegations during the military prosecution investigation, stating, "It appears to be a story fabricated by former Chief Park to escape the insubordination case," and reportedly testified that "there was no mention of the VIP at all."

Meanwhile, on the same day, President Yoon exercised his veto power (request for reconsideration) against the 'Special Prosecutor Appointment Act for the Investigation of Obstruction and Concealment of the Truth Regarding the Line-of-Duty Death of Marine Corporal Chae' (Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Act).