Seoul High Prosecutors' Office Dismisses Appeal in Former Minister Chu Mi-ae's Son's 'Military Leave Absence' Case

Former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae. / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The Seoul High Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Hu-gon), which reviewed the appeal case against the non-prosecution decision by the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office (then Chief Prosecutor Kim Kwan-jung) that found no charges against former Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae, her son Seo, and her former aide regarding the 'military leave non-return suspicion,' has dismissed the appeal. This conclusion was reached 1 year and 6 months after the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office reviewed whether to reopen the investigation.

On the 7th, the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office announced, "On the 3rd, the appeal regarding the military absence and deception for avoiding duty charges against former Minister Chu and her son was dismissed."

The Seoul High Prosecutors' Office explained the reason, stating, "After the appeal case was assigned, we reviewed the investigation contents of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, the investigation records of the military support officer who was cleared of charges by the military prosecution on April 15, medical certificates, and seized items. As there was no reason to change the original disposition by the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office prosecutor, the appeal was dismissed."

Seo, the son of former Minister Chu, served as a KATUSA (Korean Augmentation To the United States Army) soldier in the US 8th Army Korea Support Group, US 2nd Infantry Division Area Unit. He took two sick leaves and one personal leave from June 5 to 27, 2017. During this period, allegations arose that there was external pressure from Minister Chu's side, leading to a complaint.

The Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office (then Chief Prosecutor Kim Deok-gon), which investigated the case, decided in September last year to not prosecute former Minister Chu, Seo, former parliamentary aide A, and B, who was the area unit commander during Seo's military service, citing 'no charges.'

At that time, the prosecution stated regarding Seo's military absence charge, "The initial sick leave, extended sick leave, and regular leave were all conducted with the approval of the area unit commander," and "It is difficult to see that Seo, who was verbally notified, had the intent to avoid military duty." Since Seo was already on regular leave on June 25, 2017, when the on-duty soldier who first exposed the case recognized Seo's failure to return from leave, it was difficult to establish the crime of military absence.

According to Article 30 of the Military Criminal Act, military absence is divided into 'local absence' and 'non-return absence' (those who have legally left the unit on leave, outing, or overnight leave but fail to return within the designated time). The prosecution explained that "simple delayed return without the intent to avoid military duty does not constitute the crime of military absence."

However, there were criticisms that the prosecution's investigation results were a 'blatant leniency investigation.'

During the prosecution investigation, a crucial witness's testimony was omitted from the records, and the prosecutor and investigator responsible for this were later transferred to other prosecution offices. It was revealed that the prosecution called them back to handle the investigation, which further intensified suspicions.

Above all, criticism arose that it was difficult to expect a fair investigation when former Minister Chu appointed Kim Kwan-jung, a representative figure of the 'Chu (秋) Line,' as the chief of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, entrusting him with the case involving her son.

Former Chief Prosecutor Kim, while serving as the head of the Criminal Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, maintained a confrontational stance with Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl in cases such as the 'prosecutor-media collusion' incident and defended Minister Chu's position. In July last year, when the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office planned to raid Samsung Seoul Hospital, which issued Seo's medical certificate, he opposed the plan and allegedly had the related documents voluntarily submitted instead.

Notably, while the prosecution decided not to prosecute all involved parties, the investigation result announcement included KakaoTalk messages exchanged between former Minister Chu and her former aide, obtained through digital forensic analysis of the aide's mobile phone. According to these messages, former Minister Chu instructed the aide to contact the support officer and try to reach her son Seo, and the aide reported to her, "I have already requested an extension once more."

Previously, during National Assembly interpellations, former Minister Chu repeatedly denied involvement in her son's leave issue and denied instructing the aide to make phone calls when questioned by opposition lawmakers. She even showed anger, saying, "Why would an aide take instructions on such a personal matter?" This evidence contradicted her explanations.

Meanwhile, the People Power Party submitted an appeal in November last year, requesting a reinvestigation of the related suspicions against the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office's non-prosecution decision.

An appeal is a procedure where the complainant or accuser dissatisfied with a local prosecutor's office's non-prosecution decision requests a retrial from the chief prosecutor of the competent high prosecutor's office. The Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, which reviewed the appeal case as the superior office of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, could have ordered a reinvestigation or directly investigated the case if it found problems with the non-prosecution decision. However, it concluded that there was no issue with the non-prosecution decision.

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