First Extension of Investigation Period
Extended Until September 29
The special prosecutor team led by Lee Myunghyun, which is investigating allegations of external pressure in the death of Marine Corps Corporal Chae, stated regarding the church search and seizure, "The court recognized the necessity and issued the search and seizure warrant," adding, "There were no violations of legal procedures or anything of that sort during the execution process."
Special Prosecutor Jung Minyoung made this statement at a regular briefing on the 26th in response to comments by U.S. President Donald Trump regarding the church search and seizure. Previously, on the 25th (local time), President Trump, during a South Korea-U.S. summit with President Lee Jaemyung, was asked by reporters, "What do you think about the search and seizure of the church and the Osan U.S. military base?" He responded, "If that (the church search and seizure) is true, it would be a very bad thing."
Special Prosecutor Jung stated, "What we can say is that there was nothing problematic in the execution of the warrant, and we sufficiently explained the process to the church at the time of execution," adding, "Substantively, there were matters that needed to be confirmed from the investigative agency's perspective, which is why the execution took place."
Previously, on July 18, the special prosecutor team conducted a search and seizure at the residence of Pastor Lee Younghoon, the senior pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church, as well as at the church's session room. Pastor Lee is known to have ties with former Marine Corps 1st Division Commander Lim Sungkeun through the Military Mission Committee of the General Assembly of the Assemblies of God of Korea. The special prosecutor team suspects that he was involved in lobbying efforts to save former Commander Lim.
The special prosecutor team announced that they have completed most of the forensic procedures and evidence analysis on the items seized during the church search and seizure, and that they plan to summon and question related individuals soon.
Additionally, the special prosecutor announced that the investigation period, which was originally set to end on August 30, has been extended by 30 days. As a result, the investigation period now runs until September 29. Special Prosecutor Jung stated, "The special prosecutor's investigation period has been extended by 30 days to September 29," adding, "We plan to submit a written report to the National Assembly explaining the reasons for the extension." He further noted, "Among the three special prosecutor teams, only ours is limited to a maximum investigation period of 30 days, which is relatively short," and expressed hope that, "if possible, we would like to conduct the investigation for up to 150 days, as is the case with other special prosecutor teams."
Meanwhile, the special prosecutor team is currently questioning Cho Gurae, former Director-General for Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Lee Jaeyu, former Director-General of the Immigration and Foreign Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Justice, regarding allegations related to the appointment of former Defense Minister Lee Jongseop as Ambassador to Australia.
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