Democratic Party Asserts Justification for Compulsory Investigation
The Democratic Party of Korea is intensifying its offensive to pass the special investigation law on Marine Corps Sergeant Chae Sang-byeong by June 4, when the June extraordinary session of the National Assembly ends. In particular, they are raising suspicions of external pressure on the investigation into Sergeant Chae Sang-byeong's death and arguing the necessity of introducing a special investigation.
Chief Presidential Secretary Jeong Jin-seok is on a call with someone during the full meeting of the Steering Committee held at the National Assembly on the 1st. This Steering Committee meeting marked the first attendance of Chief Secretary Jeong Jin-seok and other presidential office aides since the opening of the 22nd National Assembly. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
On the morning of the 2nd, Yoon Geon-young, a Democratic Party lawmaker and member of the National Assembly Steering Committee, stated on MBC Radio’s ‘Kim Jong-bae’s Focus’ that “compulsory measures are necessary rather than a fact-finding investigation by the National Assembly Steering Committee or at the National Assembly level” regarding suspicions surrounding the investigation into Sergeant Chae Sang-byeong’s death. Yoon evaluated the full meeting of the Steering Committee held the previous day, where he questioned the Presidential Office on current issues, saying, “The outline of the substantive truth has been revealed.”
He said, “On the day the President was enraged, there was a National Security Office meeting, and what was intensively done that day was phone calls to the Minister of National Defense,” adding, “The National Security Office chief, the National Defense secretary, and the Yongsan National Defense secretary made concentrated calls to the Minister of National Defense and the defense aide, resulting in the cancellation of all scheduled media briefings that day.”
He continued, “On August 2, the day the President took action, the President made seven calls, and a Yongsan Presidential Office official made 39 calls,” and pointed out, “The day before, Yongsan officials excused themselves in the Steering Committee by saying it was ‘due to Uzbekistan defense cooperation,’ but what kind of defense cooperation is there, and what does it have to do with Uzbekistan, according to the Public Service Discipline Secretary?”
He added, “I found it somewhat strange that in the previous day’s National Assembly Steering Committee, it was answered that ‘Chief Kim Tae-hyo did not report at the July 31 meeting and the President did not get angry,’” and said, “When I asked if there would be a transcript of that meeting, Chief Kim said there was no transcript at all, and there were no recordings or anything like that.”
Regarding this, he criticized, “According to the Records Management Act, meetings attended by the President, especially those with vice-minister level or higher officials, must be recorded, and a stenographer must be present at senior secretaries’ meetings,” adding, “In this day and age, it is unreasonable not to record the President’s wording and messages during meetings, so Chief Kim’s excuses are not credible.”
The day before, the Democratic Party focused intensively on suspicions of external pressure in the investigation into Sergeant Chae Sang-byeong’s death during the National Assembly Steering Committee’s full meeting on current issues. Lawmaker Chu Mi-ae questioned the user of the Presidential Office’s landline phone ‘02-800-7070,’ which was reported to have called then-Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop on July 31 last year, arguing that “confirming the President’s rage, the source of the suspicion of external pressure on the investigation, is the key to solving the problem.”
Fellow party member Ko Min-jung asked, “Around 11:54, a call was made to 02-800-7070 (to former Minister Lee Jong-seop), and then from the Minister of National Defense onward, everything proceeded smoothly. Isn’t that strange?” She continued, “I suspected the National Security Office chief’s line, but since the National Security Office’s internal extension numbers start with four digits, it’s not the National Security Office, nor the Chief Secretary’s office. So I suspect it might be the President’s office.” Ko also raised suspicions that the Presidential Office’s phone lines were rearranged after the problematic call, calling it “evidence destruction.”
In response, Jeong Jin-seok, Chief Secretary of the Presidential Office, said, “All phone numbers of the Presidential Office are confidential security matters,” and countered, “North Korea is probably watching this meeting in real time. During the Moon Jae-in administration, there was a request to disclose all internal extension numbers, but due to the nature of the work, the Steering Committee was told they could not be disclosed.”
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