Defense Minister Shin Won-sik: "Allegations of External Pressure in Chae Sang-byeong Case Are One-Sided Claims"

Attendance at National Assembly Government Questioning: "Just Colonel Park Jeonghun's Claim"

On the 2nd, Shin Won-sik, Minister of National Defense, addressed allegations of external pressure in the investigation of the death of soldier Chae Sang-byeong, stating, "The claim of external pressure is a unilateral assertion by Colonel Park Jeong-hoon (head of the investigation team), and the other related parties have different views."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Minister Shin appeared at the National Assembly's government questioning session that day and responded to related inquiries from Park Beom-gye of the Democratic Party of Korea, saying, "I believe that the facts and the punishment of those responsible will be determined through investigation and trial."

When Park asked if he agreed with Chief Presidential Secretary Jeong Jin-seok's statement at the Operations Committee meeting that the essence of the case was insubordination, Minister Shin replied, "I agree," and when asked if it was insubordination, he answered, "Yes."

When Park asked if it was an abuse of presidential authority, Minister Shin said, "I cannot accept that it is an abuse of presidential authority; that is a unilateral claim by Colonel Park Jeong-hoon. Everyone else holds different views."

Minister Shin, who served as the ruling party's secretary on the National Defense Committee last year on August 21, rebutted Park's question, "Why did you lie about not having spoken with then-Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop?" by saying, "I never lied." He added, "The transcript clearly shows that I did not have any phone calls with former Minister Lee regarding the incident involving soldier Chae."