President Yoon, Three Calls with Lee Jong-seop on the Day of Transferring Records of 'Chae Sang-byeong Line-of-Duty Death Incident'

It has been confirmed that on the day the Marine Corps Investigation Unit transferred the records of Corporal Chae's death in the line of duty case to the police last August, President Yoon Suk-yeol made three phone calls to then Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop, who was on a business trip to Uzbekistan.

According to the legal community on the 29th, President Yoon called former Minister Lee three times on August 2 last year at 12:07 PM, 12:43 PM, and 12:57 PM. The calls lasted 4 minutes 5 seconds, 13 minutes 43 seconds, and 52 seconds respectively. The phone number used at the time was reportedly President Yoon's personal phone number from his days as a prosecutor.

From the left, President Yoon Seok-yeol and former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop. Photo by Kim Hyun-min.

On the same day at 10:30 AM, the Marine Corps Investigation Unit transferred eight officers, including then 1st Marine Division Commander Im Seong-geun, to the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency on charges of professional negligence causing death. It appears that former Minister Lee received President Yoon’s calls while being briefed on this situation. This fact was revealed through communication records obtained by former Marine Corps Investigation Unit Chief Park Jeong-hoon (Colonel) during a military trial on charges of insubordination.

Meanwhile, it is known that former Chief Park was notified of his dismissal between the first and second calls between President Yoon and former Minister Lee.

Subsequently, the Ministry of National Defense Prosecutors’ Office decided to file charges against former Chief Park for insubordination and to retrieve the case from the police. The case was retrieved from the Gyeongbuk Police Agency around 7:20 PM on the same day. Before retrieving the case, Yoo Jae-eun, the Ministry of National Defense Legal Affairs Officer, made a phone call to the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency that afternoon.

President Yoon is also understood to have called former Minister Lee again on August 8 last year. The following day, August 9, former Minister Lee decided to have the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters review the Corporal Chae case.

Earlier, on July 31 last year, just before a scheduled media briefing on the investigation results was canceled, former Minister Lee received a call from the presidential office’s general phone number starting with '02-800' at around 11:54 AM and spoke for 168 seconds.

After this call, former Minister Lee reportedly instructed Marine Corps Commander Kim Gye-hwan to cancel the briefing at 11:57 AM.

Former Minister Lee testified before the National Assembly’s Budget and Accounts Special Committee in September last year, denying any phone calls with the president regarding this matter when questioned by opposition lawmakers.

Regarding this, former Minister Lee’s side is reported to have stated that the response meant there was no call involving the president’s anger or instructions to remove Commander Im Seong-geun from the list of suspects.

Additionally, a presidential office official reportedly stated that "there was a reprimand regarding the loss of life due to a reckless rescue operation, and it is natural for the president and cabinet members to communicate by phone."

Meanwhile, at the last plenary session of the 21st National Assembly held the previous day, a re-vote was held on the Special Prosecutor Act for Corporal Chae (the Act on the Appointment of a Special Prosecutor for the Investigation of Obstruction and Concealment of the Death of a Marine in the Line of Duty), which President Yoon had requested a reconsideration for. However, it was rejected with 179 votes in favor, 111 against, and 4 invalid votes.

With the rejection of the Special Prosecutor Act, attention is expected to focus on the investigation by the High-ranking Officials’ Crime Investigation Unit (the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, or CPO) into allegations of pressure on the investigation of Corporal Chae’s death in the line of duty case.

In particular, as it has been confirmed that multiple calls were made between President Yoon and former Minister Lee on the day the Marine Corps Investigation Unit’s records related to Corporal Chae were transferred to the police and then retrieved, the CPO is expected to investigate whether President Yoon influenced the process of retrieving the records.