[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Will the Marine Corps Investigation Unit Chief Face Additional Charges?

Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters Likely to Conduct Additional Investigation on Corporal Chae Case
Attention on Whether Investigation Team Leader Will Face Additional Charges Amid Reassignment Dismissal Backlash

The Defense Ministry's Investigation Headquarters appears to be conducting an additional investigation into the death of the late Corporal Chae Su-geun, who died in the line of duty while searching for missing persons during heavy rain damage. Although the Defense Ministry intends to review the overall circumstances of the death, there is a view within and outside the military that the focus will be on finding additional charges as the dismissed Marine Corps investigation unit commander strongly protests.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 9th, a Defense Ministry official said, "After a meeting with the Deputy Minister of Defense and officials in charge of legal affairs and investigations, we plan to review the overall investigation of the case, and the Defense Minister is expected to give final approval as early as today."

On the 8th, the Marine Corps held a dismissal review committee chaired by Vice Commander Jung Jong-beom, which dismissed Colonel A from his post and notified the individual of the result. The committee explained the reason for dismissal, stating that Colonel A's failure to comply with the commander’s instructions regarding the transfer of the investigation results of Corporal Chae Su-geun’s case to the police constituted a "serious breach of military discipline."

Colonel A immediately protested. In a public statement released through his attorney Kim Kyung-ho, Colonel A claimed, "The investigation confirmed the professional negligence of eight suspects, including the division commander, and I directly reported the intention to transfer the case to the police to the Marine Corps Commander, the Chief of Naval Operations, and the Defense Minister face-to-face. After reporting to the Defense Minister, until the case was transferred to the police, I never received any direct or indirect order from the Minister to wait for the transfer."

Previously, on the 30th of last month, Colonel A reported the investigation results of the Marine Corps investigation unit to Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop, who ordered the transfer to the police. However, the next day, Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop and Marine Corps Commander Kim Gye-hwan suddenly instructed to withhold the transfer to the police. Ultimately, Colonel A transferred the case to the Gyeongbuk Police Agency on the 2nd and was charged with insubordination. Colonel A’s side claims that there was no documented order during the reversal process.

The Defense Ministry stated, "The transfer was withheld for legal review because specifying concrete charges could affect the police investigation." This has led to suspicions within and outside the military of "higher-level intervention" aimed at excluding certain individuals with charges. It is known that Colonel A’s report explicitly listed charges such as professional negligence resulting in death against eight individuals, including Marine Corps 1st Division Commander Lim Seong-geun.

There are also expectations that the Defense Ministry’s Investigation Headquarters may apply additional charges to justify the dismissal of Colonel A, who is strongly protesting. Since the investigation materials handed over to the police are considered military secrets, charges of violating the Military Secrets Protection Act could be applied, or charges of abuse of authority could be added for arbitrarily handing over investigation results to the police. There are concerns that the Investigation Headquarters might arbitrarily modify or delete charges against specific individuals.

Some argue that since the police have investigative authority, there is no need for further involvement by military investigative agencies. It has been three weeks since Corporal Chae died in the line of duty, and there is no need for additional overlapping military investigations. According to the Military Court Act revised last year, civilian investigative agencies are responsible for investigating military death cases with criminal charges.

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