Chae Sang-byeong charged with ‘abuse of power by military leader’ after Park Jung-hoon acquitted |

The court acknowledged that the instruction to withhold the transfer was illegal… The investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office is likely to gain momentum.

“Sentence. “The defendant is not guilty.”

On the morning of the 9th, the Central Regional Military Court of the Ministry of National Defense, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. When Park Jeong-hoon, former head of the Marine Corps investigation team (colonel), who was indicted on charges of insubordination and defamation of superior officer under the Military Criminal Act, was found not guilty in the first trial, the audience filled with members of the Marine Corps Comrades Association shouted “Hurrah!” Cheers erupted. Colonel Park hugged his mother, Kim Bong-soon, in the courtroom and closed his eyes. In October 2023, it had been 15 months since he was handed over to trial on charges of failing to follow former Marine Corps commander Kim Gye-hwan’s order to withhold and stop the transfer of investigation records to the police for the death of Corporal Chae Soo-geun of the Marine Corps.

The military prosecutors requested three years in prison, but the military court (presiding judge Kim Jong-il) found him not guilty on all charges on the grounds that “the instructions Colonel Park received were not justified.” Since Colonel Park has been raising the so-called ‘VIP fury theory’ and claiming that illegal orders were issued due to external pressure from President Yoon, there are predictions that the related investigation by the High-ranking Public Officials Crime Investigation Office (Corruption Investigation Office) will also be able to speed up.

● “The order to withhold the transfer is not justified.”

Military prosecutors said that former Marine Corps Commander Kim Gye-hwan received an order from former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop to withhold and stop the transfer on July 31, 2023, and instructed Colonel Park to do so, but Colonel Park ignored this and transferred the case to the Gyeongbuk Police Agency on the 2nd of the following month, charging him with mutiny. It has been argued that he should be punished.

However, the court did not recognize the charge of mutiny, saying, “It is difficult to view former Marine Corps Commander Kim Gye-hwan’s instructions, intentions, and methods as legitimate orders.” The intention is that former Commander Kim’s instructions themselves are illegal as they do not fit the purpose of the revised Military Court Act. According to the revised Military Court Act, crimes that are not under the jurisdiction of military courts, such as cases involving the death of a soldier, must be transferred to civilian courts ‘without delay.’ It is said that former Commander Kim illegally blocked Colonel Park, who attempted to transfer the case without delay in accordance with the law.

The military court also pointed out that “former Commander Kim’s instructions were not clear.” The court said, “Former Commander Kim appears to have made a statement that transfer of intelligence would be necessary on August 9, 2023, but rather than giving a clear (order), it appears that he discussed it with people, including Colonel Park.” During the military prosecutor’s investigation, former Commander Kim said, “I had a three-way meeting with Public Affairs Director Jeong Hoon and the head of the investigation team. The basis for the statement was, “The main content was the discussion about when civilian transfers should be carried out.”

The military prosecutors accused Colonel Park of defamation, claiming that it was false when he appeared on a broadcast program and said, “Former Minister Lee asked the question, ‘Should the (then) 1st Marine Division commander Lim Seong-geun also be subject to criminal punishment?'” applied. However, the court did not accept it, saying, “In the case of defamation of a superior, false facts must have been spread, but (Colonel Park’s remarks) cannot be considered false facts.”

● Securing legitimacy of investigation into suspicions of ‘VIP fury and external pressure’

There is an analysis in the legal world that with today’s ruling, the 3rd investigation department of the Corruption Investigation Department (Chief Prosecutor Lee Dae-hwan) has secured legal legitimacy for the investigation into suspicion of external pressure in the corporal case, which has been ongoing since August 2023. The gist of this case is the suspicion that the Marine Corps investigation team identified former division commander Lim as a suspect of occupational manslaughter and attempted to transfer it to the police, but after President Yoon became enraged, the Ministry of National Defense’s leadership intervened and the transfer was put on hold.

On this day, the court did not specifically judge the ‘VIP outrage theory’, but acknowledged that former commander Kim’s order to withhold the transfer was illegal. Therefore, it became possible to apply charges of abuse of power to military leaders, including former Minister Lee at the time, and it is analyzed that legal justification was secured to investigate President Yoon, who was pointed out as the apex of suspicion, on the same charges. As a result of the actual investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office, former Minister Lee ordered former Commander Kim to withhold the transfer immediately after receiving a call from the President’s Office number (02-700-8080) on July 31, 2023, and on August 2, President Yoon used his personal cell phone. It has been revealed that Colonel Park was dismissed from his position after calling former Minister Kim.

However, the fact that the Corruption Investigation Office temporarily suspended the investigation by devoting all of its personnel to the investigation of President Yoon, who is suspected of being the leader of the rebellion due to the declaration of martial law on December 3, is considered a variable. A lawyer who used to be a prosecutor said, “If the investigation is resumed, it will proceed quickly starting with the investigation of former Minister Lee and other military leaders.”