"Received a Call from Chu Mi-ae's Aide"... United Future Party Releases Son's Allegation Recording

Choo Mi-ae's Press Conference Refuting Her Explanation "I Was Not Involved"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] The United Future Party on the 2nd released a recording of a military official stating that the then 'aide to Representative Chu' requested an extension of sick leave on behalf of Seo, the son of Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae, amid allegations of 'failure to return from military leave.'

Minister Choo denied the claim the previous day, saying, "Would an aide take orders to handle such a personal matter?" but the party countered by releasing the recording.

On the morning of the same day, Rep. Shin Won-sik of the United Future Party held a press conference at the National Assembly, stating, "If Minister Choo and the prosecution continue to distort the substantive truth and make unilateral claims, we will continue to expose additional evidence," and disclosed the recording. The party labeled the military service allegations concerning Minister Choo's son as 'desertion' and 'emperor leave.'

According to the recording, Captain A, who spoke with Rep. Shin's aide, received a call from the aide to Representative Chu, then leader of the Democratic Party, regarding an extension of Seo's sick leave. Captain A said, "I don't remember the aide's name," but added, "I wondered why the aide was handling this personally." Captain A informed his superior and leave approval authority, Regional Commander Lieutenant Colonel B (currently Colonel), who then instructed to process the leave as personal leave instead of sick leave.

Rep. Shin commented on the instruction to process the leave as personal leave, saying, "Since he took 20 days of sick leave but said he would rest at home, it seems they judged that no more sick leave could be granted," and added, "It is presumed they allowed personal leave because it was difficult to proceed otherwise."

According to Rep. Shin, Seo took 58 days of leave during his 21 months of military service. From June 5 to 27, 2017, he took a long-term leave totaling 23 days. He consecutively used a first sick leave of 10 days and a second sick leave of 9 days in the same month. Afterwards, the aide to Representative Chu requested an extension of sick leave from the unit, but it was unsuccessful, and ultimately personal leave was used, according to Rep. Shin's claim.

Rep. Shin previously pointed out that the 19 days of sick leave were not recorded. In response, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said, "I understand that some administrative actions were not completed," and added, "It is recorded in the interview log with the officers. It is understood that sick leave and leave were processed according to procedures."

At the press conference, Rep. Shin stated, "According to Army regulations and Ministry of National Defense directives, 'sick leave' requires submission of supporting documents such as a medical certificate for approval, but upon verification, there is no evidence for 19 days of sick leave during the 23 days of leave," and argued, "This is a clear abuse of authority by the unit commander and raises suspicions of Seo's unauthorized absence from duty, i.e., desertion." He further claimed, "The remaining 4 days of personal leave were an abnormal act where the unit commander took verbal preliminary measures and later administrative processing after receiving contact from then Representative Chu's aide."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.