Military Prosecutors Appeal 'Park Jeonghun Not Guilty of Disobedience'

To Be Held at the Seoul High Court, a Civilian Court

The Military Prosecutor's Office announced on the 13th that it will appeal the first trial verdict, which acquitted Park Jeong-hoon (Marine Corps Colonel), former head of the Marine Corps Investigation Unit, on charges of insubordination and defamation of a superior officer. The appellate trial will be conducted at the Seoul High Court, a civilian court, in accordance with the Military Court Act revised in 2022.

Yonhap News

The Military Prosecutor's Office stated, "We respect the first trial verdict of the military court," but added, "However, upon reviewing the judgment, there are parts regarding fact verification and legal reasoning that we cannot accept, so we have decided to appeal."

The Central Regional Military Court, which handled the first trial, acquitted Colonel Park at the sentencing hearing on the 9th. Colonel Park was indicted by the Ministry of National Defense Prosecutor's Office on October 6 of the same year on charges of insubordination for not following the order of then Marine Corps Commander Kim Gye-hwan to withhold the transfer of investigation records related to the death of Corporal Chae, which occurred on July 19, 2023.

Colonel Park was also charged with defamation of a superior officer for allegedly distorting statements made by then Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop during media interviews, causing the public to perceive that the former minister had given unjust orders. The first trial court ruled that there was no clear order from former Commander Kim Gye-hwan to withhold the transfer, and that after the Marine Corps Investigation Unit actually began transferring the case records, Kim's order to stop the transfer was not a legitimate command. Regarding the defamation charge against former Minister Lee Jong-seop, the court also found that Colonel Park did not have the intent to defame his superior's honor.