Ex-defense minister under probe

[Anchor]

Next is a KBS exclusive report related to the special investigation into the deceased Marine.

The special investigation is delving into the process leading up to the sudden appointment of former Minister Lee Jong-sup, who was involved in the allegations of investigation pressure last March, as the ambassador to Australia.

After the Yoon Suk Yeol government hastily lifted Minister Lee's travel ban and sent him to Australia, controversy arose, and they are looking into whether a meeting was hastily arranged to bring him back.

In fact, KBS has confirmed that the schedule related to this meeting was announced just one day prior.

Kim Ji-sook reports.

[Report]

Former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup was a key suspect in the case of the deceased Marine.

Despite being under a travel ban, he was appointed as the ambassador to Australia and left the country.

However, after public backlash, he abruptly returned to Korea just 11 days later, citing “meeting attendance” as the reason.

[Lee Jong-sup/Former Minister of National Defense/March 21 of last year: "I returned temporarily to attend a meeting of major country ambassadors related to defense cooperation."]

There were suspicions that the meeting was hastily arranged to deflect the criticism.

[Lim Soo-seok/Former Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs/March 21 of last year: "It was previously decided that a separate meeting needed to be held..."]

However, KBS found that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs only notified ambassadors in Europe and the Middle East to return one day before the meeting.

Due to the sudden directive, the ambassadors had to book connecting flights and started arriving from the 23rd, but only one person, former Minister Lee, returned on the morning of the 21st as scheduled.

It was also found that the participating defense companies were notified of the schedule only a day or two in advance.

The special investigation team into the deceased Marine has recently secured statements from Ministry of Foreign Affairs employees indicating that such a meeting was unusual.

It is customary to issue a notification at least a month in advance.

[Hong Gi-won/Member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee/Democratic Party: "Isn't it the case that an important meeting attended by multiple ambassadors was hastily arranged to accommodate the schedule for a specific individual? We need to clarify whether there was prior coordination for a planned return."]

After the meeting, former Minister Lee resigned from his ambassador position.

The special investigation is viewing the departure under the direction of former President Yoon and the subsequently hastily arranged meeting as part of a 'criminal escape' process and is continuing the investigation.

KBS News, Kim Ji-sook.