People Power Party: "All military leave documents of Choo's son differ... We will report the authors"

"Unit logs, interview records, and service records all differ in the number and duration of leave days"

Members of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, including Kim Do-eup, the floor leader of the People Power Party, held a press conference on the 16th at the National Assembly regarding allegations of military leave involving Seo, the son of Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] On the 16th, Kim Do-eup, a member of the People Power Party, raised suspicions regarding the sick leave of Seo Mo (27), the son of Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, who is under investigation for preferential treatment during military service. He pointed out discrepancies in the unit logs, interview records, and the number and duration of leave days recorded in the service records.

Kim, the floor leader of the National Assembly's Judiciary Committee, held a press conference with other People Power Party members of the committee on the same day, stating, "We have obtained a response document recently prepared by the Ministry of National Defense," and claimed, "On the 23rd, the entire unit was effectively in a state of desertion."

According to Kim and others, there were no leave order records for the first and second petition leaves. For the second petition leave, the unit logs recorded 9 days from June 15 to 23, while the interview records noted 10 days from the 15th to the 24th. The service records were inconsistent, showing 10 days from the 15th to the 24th and 11 days from the 15th to the 25th.

Regarding personal leave, the leave order indicated 4 days from June 24 to 27, but the service records showed only 2 days starting from the 26th. The number and duration of leave days also differed across the unit logs (24th to 28th), interview records (25th to 28th), and Military Manpower Administration records (24th to 27th).

Kim explained that if Seo used 5 days of personal leave as recorded in the unit logs and Military Manpower Administration records, his total personal leave days would be 29, which is one day more than the 28 days allotted to an Army soldier.

He stated, "The discrepancies in the military internal official documents mean that all are false documents or that all but one are false documents, and I will report all the authors."

He added, "Since it has been confirmed that both reserve and active-duty soldiers are involved, a joint investigation team comprising the prosecution, military, and military prosecution should be established to thoroughly investigate this case."

Members of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, including Kim Do-eup, the floor leader of the People Power Party, held a press conference on the 16th at the National Assembly regarding allegations of military leave involving Seo, the son of Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim also obtained the full text of the Ministry of National Defense's March 8, 2017, official letter titled 'Emphasis on Compliance with Petition Leave Regulations for Active-Duty Soldiers for Medical Purposes,' recently disclosed to the media, and pointed out, "Both documents specify compliance requirements not only for hospitalized patients but also for outpatient treatment."

Previously, the Ministry of National Defense stated that this document applied only to hospitalized patients. However, the full text disclosed on this day specifies, "In the case of outpatient treatment, the leave period is granted considering the actual treatment period and the time required for travel (within a round trip of 2 days)," and "Periods of petition leave used regardless of actual treatment should be processed as personal leave."

Regarding the Ministry of National Defense's claim, citing 'Article 12 of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Status and Service of Soldiers,' that "Extension of petition leave for soldiers who are not hospitalized can be granted without military hospital convalescence review," Kim criticized, "There is no mention of convalescence review anywhere in the enforcement decree," and said, "The Ministry of National Defense is deceiving the public and protecting Minister Choo with baseless supporting materials."

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