Marine Corps Corporal Chae Su-geun's Death in the Line of Duty, D.P.2 D?j? Vu

Dispute Over Transfer and Retrieval of 'Chaesangbyeong Report'
"Must Reveal Who Intervened" vs "Security Office Intervention Not Allowed"

The case of the late Marine Corporal Chae Su-geun is spreading like a real-life version of the Netflix drama 'D.P.2'. It is escalating into a truth game between the military authorities trying to hide the truth and those trying to uncover it.

Amid claims that the background of Corporal Chae Su-geun's death, who died swept away by a rapid current at the flood site in Yecheon-gun, Gyeongbuk last month, involves unreasonable orders from the military command, suspicions of the National Security Office's involvement in the report on Corporal Chae's case have also been raised.

On the 9th, Lim Tae-hoon, director of the Military Human Rights Center, claimed on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' that excessive orders were issued for the sake of performance, which ultimately led to the fatal accident.

He said, "When the flood occurred in Pohang last year, the Marines deployed armored vehicles and were praised by the public. I cannot shake the thought that they might have tried to achieve some kind of performance like that."

The burial ceremony of the late Corporal Chae Su-geun is being held on the afternoon of July 22 at the National Daejeon National Cemetery. Corporal Chae Su-geun was swept away by a rapid current and died on July 19 while searching for a missing person in Naeseongcheon, Yecheon, Gyeongbuk. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

He continued, "It can only be seen that the division commander gave a showy, unreasonable order," and emphasized, "Putting aside the concept of safety gear, the fact is that the current Marine soldiers are not skilled personnel optimized for disaster rescue, so it is more appropriate for them to assist firefighting personnel."

In this situation, the case of Corporal Chae is spreading into allegations of external pressure. Previously, Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop approved the transfer of the investigation report on Corporal Chae's case to the police but suddenly put it on hold, raising suspicions that the National Security Office intervened during this process.

Also, the report contained charges of negligent homicide against eight people, including Division Commander Lim Seong-geun of the 1st Marine Division to which Corporal Chae belonged, but reports emerged that higher-ups instructed to exclude these charges, spreading controversy over a cover-up. Colonel A, the head of the Marine investigation unit who transferred the report to the police, was dismissed from his post for disobeying the hold order and is currently under investigation for charges of collective insubordination.

The opposition party also claimed suspicions of National Security Office involvement. Kim Byung-joo, the opposition whip of the National Defense Committee and a member of the Democratic Party, said, "Removing the charges and instructing how to transfer the case could be an abuse of power," and demanded, "It must be clearly revealed whether the National Security Office or the Defense Minister intervened."

The burial ceremony of the late Corporal Chae Su-geun is being held on the afternoon of July 22 at the National Daejeon National Cemetery, where his comrades are paying their final respects to Corporal Chae. Photo by Yonhap News

On the 9th, Representative Kim said on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus', "I reviewed the document reported to Minister Lee Jong-seop, and it contained the initial investigation results and the intention to transfer it to the police," adding, "He must have signed that (investigation report), so reversing it the next day is a very unusual case."

The ruling party rebutted the suspicions of National Security Office involvement. On the same radio program, Seong Il-jong, a member of the People Power Party, said, "The National Security Office cannot intervene in investigations," and added, "This case has high public interest and involves failures to properly command the flood site, so there is no reason to cover it up."

Regarding the suspicion that parts specifying criminal charges were attempted to be deleted, he explained, "Because the charge of negligent homicide was applied even to those on site, such as the sergeant who conducted rescue operations, questions arose like whether that person could have foreseen all the deaths," and said, "Therefore, after the minister returned from his business trip, he suggested reviewing it again, but the report was sent to the police as is, defying that."

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