Chae Su-geun case reignites

[Anchor]

This ruling comes a year and a half after a young Marine Chae Su-geun was declared 'killed in action.'

As the court determined that the order was not legitimate, the controversy over where that order originated is expected to reignite.

Next, we have Yoon Jin with the report.

[Report]

On July 19, 2023, Corporal Chae Su-geun died while searching for a missing person in a river.

He was sent into the search without a life jacket, and the Marine Corps investigation team led by Colonel Park Jung-hun concluded that eight individuals, including then-Marine Corps 1st Division Commander Lim Seong-geun, were responsible.

However, former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup prevented the police transfer of the investigation results through former Commander Kim Kye-hwan.

In response, the court pointed out, "The instructions and intentions of the defense minister are difficult to view as legitimate orders."

Former Minister Lee emphasized that it was his decision, but it was revealed that on the day he instructed Commander Kim Kye-hwan to withhold the transfer, he had a phone call with President Yoon Suk Yeol, who had also retrieved the case records that were sent to the police.

President Yoon exercised his veto power three times regarding the special investigation law for Corporal Chae's death, and this ruling could serve as a driving force for the re-promotion of the special investigation law to investigate external pressures on the investigation.

[Park Jung-hun/Colonel/Former Head of Marine Corps Investigation Team: "(The legal officer of the Ministry of National Defense) directly called about individual cases and said to remove this or that... I felt it was very much external pressure."]

Former Minister Lee has been placed on a travel ban as a suspect in the investigation pressure allegations but was appointed as the ambassador to Australia last March.

This has led to controversy over a possible escape, and some analyses suggest it negatively affected the ruling party in the general elections held a month later.

Regarding this ruling, former Minister Lee's lawyer stated that it is difficult to accept and that the military prosecution will appeal, expecting corrections in the subsequent trial.

KBS News, Yoon Jin.