2023-09-25 07:31:51
Park Jeong-hoon, the former head of the Marine Corps investigation team who was booked on charges of insubordination and is being investigated by the Ministry of National Defense prosecutors, officially requested on the 25th that the Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop exclude the head of the prosecution team, Kim Dong-hyuk, from the investigation.
Attorney Kim Jeong-min, Colonel Park’s legal representative, submitted a request for investigation command with the following contents at the Ministry of National Defense’s General Civil Affairs Office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul this morning. Attorney Kim also disclosed a recording file and transcript of a phone call between a Marine Corps investigator and an official from the Gyeongbuk Police Agency on August 3rd. At that time, it was the day following the military prosecutors recovered the results of the investigation into the case of the corporal’s death in the line of duty, which had been transferred to the Gyeongbuk Police Agency.
Former Director Park conducted the initial investigation into the accidental death of Corporal Chae, who died during a search for a missing person during heavy rain last July, and was dismissed from his position for violating Minister Lee’s instructions and handing over the investigation report to the Gyeongbuk Police Agency on August 2. I was booked.
In his request for investigation command, former Director Park said, “The head of the prosecution ordered his staff to illegally seize the case records that were legally transferred to the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency by the Marine Corps 1st Metropolitan Investigation Team.” He added, “The head of the prosecution is leading the investigation of this case.” “This fundamentally undermines the fairness of the investigation,” he argued.
Attorney Kim said, “If there was a problem with the Marine Corps investigation team (in the process of handling Corporal Chae’s accident), it is right for the Marine Corps prosecution team to handle it,” and that the Ministry of Defense prosecution team’s investigation into Colonel Park is a “contract investigation” due to the intervention of “higher-ups.” He said. He also demanded, “At the very least, the investigation team should be replaced and a decision should be made on whether to indict (Colonel Park).”
In response to this, Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Jeon Ha-gyu said in a regular briefing that day, “The Ministry of National Defense prosecutors are investigating in accordance with law and principles,” and refuted, “The separate investigation claimed by the lawyer is groundless.” Spokesperson Jeon said, “We express regret that the lawyer insisted on a separate investigation without providing clear evidence.”
The recording file released by Attorney Kim contains a complaint by a Marine Corps investigator to a team leader from the Gyeongbuk Police Agency who handed over the case record to military prosecutors, and the police team leader’s response. When the Marine Corps investigator said, “Don’t you know why we have to be searched and seized and treated like criminals?” the police team leader said in a soothing voice, “That’s right, everything needs to be revealed.” The call ended with a Marine Corps investigator saying, “The head of the investigation team has been booked as a criminal. I had no idea he would distort the truth like this.” He added, “Next time the case goes to there (police), please be sure to conduct a thorough investigation.”
The recording of the phone call that former Director Park’s side released the previous day through the civic group Military Human Rights Center also included a phone call that Marine Corps Commandant General Kim Gye-hwan had with an official from the investigation team on the day former Director Park was dismissed from his position. Commander Kim said, “We handled it truthfully. “There is nothing wrong,” he said. “I did everything according to the principles, so let’s wait.” He is reported to have said, “It’s okay because we’ve done it without lying so far.” Attorney Kim claimed, “Commander Kim himself admitted that Colonel Park’s act of transferring was done with his consent.” ▲ Former investigation team leader Park Jeong-hoon submitted a ‘request for investigation command requesting exclusion of the head of the prosecution team’.
Attorney Kim Jeong-min, the legal representative of former Marine Corps investigation team leader Park Jeong-hoon, is holding a press conference at the General Civil Complaints Office of the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul on the morning of the 25th before submitting the ‘Request for Investigation Command Request for Exclusion from Duties of the Prosecutor General’s Office.’
Reporter Kang Guk-jin
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