2024-03-19 18:43:00
Lee Jong-seop, Ambassador to Australia, became controversial as he was appointed and left the country while he was being investigated by the Corruption Investigation Office for suspicions of interfering with the investigation into the death of Corporal Chae Soo-geun. It was recently reported that he was banned from leaving the country in December of last year, and suspicions of ‘fleeing’ were raised when his withdrawal was released three days following he applied for withdrawal and he went to Australia. The opposition party is launching an offensive, calling it ‘Yoon Seok-yeol Gate’.
Graphics = Yang Inseong
◇The starting point is the ‘death of Corporal Chae of the Marine Corps’
Last July, an accident occurred in which Corporal Chae Soo-geun of the Marine Corps died while he was deployed to search for missing people during heavy rain. Ambassador Lee was the Minister of Defense at the time of Corporal Chae’s death. Last September, the Democratic Party’s ‘Task Force (TF) to uncover the truth regarding the accident that killed a Marine’ reported Ambassador Lee to the Corruption Investigation Office on charges of ‘abuse of power.’
When Corporal Chae died, Park Jeong-hoon, the head of the Marine Corps investigation team at the time (colonel), investigated the circumstances and then prepared a document stating that eight people, including Marine Corps 1st Division Commander Lim Seong-geun, should be charged with occupational manslaughter and handed it over to the police. Ambassador Lee, who was the Minister of Defense at the time, received this report and approved it, but then changed his position and ordered the police to retrieve the report. The Democratic Party claims that this amounts to obstruction of the investigation (abuse of power). The Democratic Party also reported former Vice Minister of Defense Shin Beom-cheol and former National Security Office 2nd Deputy Director Lim Jong-deuk to the Corruption Investigation Office, and the Corruption Investigation Office booked them.
Meanwhile, the Gyeongbuk Police Agency is investigating whether Corporal Chae’s death was a case of occupational negligence manslaughter by the field commander.
Graphics = Yang Inseong
◇Corruption Investigation Office does not investigate Ambassador Lee for 6 months
The first time the Corruption Investigation Office summoned and interrogated Ambassador Lee was on the 7th. The summons and investigation were conducted following Ambassador Lee was appointed (on the 4th) and following MBC’s report on ‘Lee Jong-seop being banned from leaving the country’ (on the 6th). After the Democratic Party’s complaint, the Corruption Investigation Office did not summon and interrogate the major defendants, including Ambassador Lee, even once for six months.
The ban on Ambassador Lee and others leaving the country was implemented in December last year. The Corruption Investigation Office conducted a search and seizure of the Marine Corps headquarters and the Ministry of National Defense investigation headquarters for the first time in January of this year, four months following receiving the complaint, but is said to have not completed the analysis of the seized items until recently. An official from the Corruption Investigation Office said, “We learned regarding the ambassador’s appointment through the media and hastily prepared an investigation.” On the 5th, the Corruption Investigation Office coordinated the summons schedule with Ambassador Lee, and it was reported that an investigation was conducted on the 7th. One legal expert said, “This appears to be evidence that the Corruption Investigation Office’s investigation has been sluggish.”
Ambassador Lee departed for Australia on the 10th, three days following being summoned and investigated by the Corruption Investigation Office. On the 5th, the day following he was appointed ambassador to Australia, Ambassador Lee filed an objection to the ban on leaving the country, and the Ministry of Justice lifted the ban on leaving the country on the 8th, making it possible for him to leave the country.
In response, the Democratic Party claims that it is a ‘refugee departure’. On the 17th, the Hankyoreh newspaper reported that ‘Ambassador Lee Jong-seop received a call from the extension number of the President’s Office at the time the data was recovered.’ That day, Ambassador Lee said in a KBS interview, “If the Ministry of Public Prosecution summons me, I will return to Korea even tomorrow.”
The President’s Office is of the position that Ambassador Lee can only be summoned by the Corruption Investigation Office. The President’s Office said, “It is highly inappropriate for the head of an overseas diplomatic mission to come into the country and wait without being summoned by the Corruption Investigation Office.” The Corruption Investigation Office has not revealed the schedule for Ambassador Lee’s additional summons. Ambassador Lee’s lawyer visited the Corruption Investigation Office on the followingnoon of the 19th and submitted a letter urging them to quickly set a date for the summons and investigation.
◇Opposition party “Yoon Seok-yeol Gate” Legal community “abuse of power is not allowed”
The Democratic Party claimed on the 19th, “This incident was the ‘Seok-Yeol Yoon Gate’ from the beginning, with President Seok-Yeol Yoon at the core.” Kim Min-seok, head of the Democratic Party’s general election situation office, said on this day, “The president’s fury was the backdrop, and the results of the investigation (in the case of Corporal Chae’s death) were overturned. The president appointed the person subject to the investigation as special ambassador to Australia, and the Ministry of Justice hastily lifted the ban on leaving the country and arrested the suspect. He said, “I made him leave the country.”
Many legal experts said, “Given the allegations raised, it seems difficult for Ambassador Lee’s data recovery to be recognized as an abuse of power.” In order to constitute a crime of abuse of power, there must be a fact that a public official with official authority has abused that authority to force another person to do something that is not his or her duty or to interfere with the exercise of his or her rights.
One legal expert said, “Ambassador Lee’s decision to retrieve the investigation materials that the Marine Corps investigation team had transferred to the police can be seen as an exercise of authority by the Minister of National Defense.” He said, “In that case, it would be an abuse of power to interfere with the Marine Corps investigation team’s investigation, but the authority to investigate Corporal Chae’s death lies with the police, not the Marine Corps investigation team,” and added, “It is difficult to see that retrieving data was made to do something that was not part of the duty.” . Another legal expert said, “The ongoing police investigation into the circumstances of Corporal Chae’s death should be viewed as an indication that Ambassador Lee has never interfered with the exercise of other people’s rights.”
Another legal expert said, “If Ambassador Lee’s abuse of power is not recognized, the same goes for the President’s Office.” He added, “Even if a Presidential Office official called Ambassador Lee regarding data recovery, there is a high possibility that it would not be an abuse of power.” Some point out that the fact that the Marine Corps investigation team, which has no investigative authority, actually concluded the investigation and sent it to the police, saying that the 1st Marine Division commander and others should be charged with professional negligence manslaughter, was an excess of authority.
Some in the legal community are predicting that the Corruption Investigation Office will indict Ambassador Lee and others on charges of abuse of power and seek the court’s decision.
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