Lee Siwon, former Presidential Office Secretary for Public Discipline, who is suspected of being involved in the retrieval of investigation records related to the Chae Sangbyeong case that had been transferred to the police, appeared before the special prosecutor's team (led by Lee Myunghyun) on July 31.
Siwon Lee, former Secretary for Public Service Discipline at the Presidential Office, is attending the office of the Special Prosecutor for Fallen Marines in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 31st. Photo by Yonhap News
On this day, at around 9:20 a.m., Lee appeared as a suspect at the special prosecutor's office in Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul. In response to reporters' questions such as "Did former President Yoon Sukyeol order the retrieval of the Chae Sangbyeong case records?" and "Was the retrieval intended for the purpose of modifying the investigation records?", he gave no specific answers and briefly stated, "I will faithfully cooperate with the investigation," before moving to the interrogation room.
Lee is suspected of being involved in the retrieval of the case records by closely communicating with officials from the Ministry of National Defense after the Marine Corps investigation team transferred the initial investigation records of the Chae Sangbyeong case, in which former division commander Lim Sungkeun and others were identified as suspects for occupational negligence resulting in death, to the North Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency on August 2, 2023.
Additionally, it has been reported that Park, a superintendent who served as an administrative officer in the Presidential Office's Public Discipline Secretary's Office at the time of the Chae Sangbyeong death case, testified during the special prosecutor's investigation on July 16 that Lee instructed him to review the possibility of returning the transferred records.
During the investigation on this day, the special prosecutor is expected to focus on whether there were any illegal acts committed by Lee in the process of retrieving the case records. The investigation will also look into what role the Presidential Office played in the retrieval of the investigation records and whether there were any specific instructions from former President Yoon Sukyeol during this process.
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