Ministry of National Defense to Directly Handle 'Former Director Park's Investigation Review Application'

Investigation and Disciplinary Committee Refusal by Legal Management Office, Not Military Prosecution
May Reject Application Due to Legal Responses Such as Refusal of Investigation and Disciplinary Committee

Former Marine Corps Investigation Unit Commander (Colonel) Park Jeong-hoon plans to request the convening of a military prosecution investigation review committee on the 14th to handle the charges against him, drawing attention to whether the Ministry of National Defense will accept this. Following his refusal of the military prosecution investigation, Park is also refusing to attend the disciplinary committee, indicating an intense legal standoff.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A senior military official stated on the day, “If former Commander Park requests the convening of the investigation review committee, the Ministry of National Defense Legal Affairs Office, not the Ministry of National Defense Prosecution Unit, will proceed with the review committee ex officio.”

The military prosecution investigation review committee was established to enhance public trust by reviewing the investigation, procedures, and results of military prosecution in cases where national suspicion arises or social attention is focused. It was introduced following the case of the late Air Force Sergeant Lee Ye-ram, who tragically took her own life amid secondary harm from unit personnel after reporting sexual harassment in 2021, under the Ministry of National Defense Prosecution Unit.

When a request to convene the investigation review committee is made, the military prosecution unit must select five civilian experts as review committee members to form the committee. However, the Ministry of National Defense plans to conduct the review ex officio through the Legal Affairs Office for this request. Some speculate that since former Commander Park is continuing legal countermeasures, the Ministry of National Defense may not accept the convening of the investigation review committee. If the request is accepted, the committee will recommend whether to prosecute or request an arrest warrant based on the Ministry of National Defense Prosecution Unit’s investigation. Although the committee’s recommendations are not legally binding, they could influence the ongoing legal battle.

Earlier, the Marine Corps Command notified former Commander Park to appear before the disciplinary committee on the 16th for appearing in a live interview with KBS-1TV on the 11th without military approval. This was because his participation in the media interview without prior approval violated related laws such as the “Marine Corps Public Relations and Information Work Regulations.”

However, former Commander Park’s side has stated that they will not comply with the disciplinary committee attendance request following their refusal of the military prosecution investigation. They plan to request a postponement of the disciplinary committee, demand disciplinary investigation to guarantee the right to testify, request disclosure of disciplinary records, and request disclosure of the names of disciplinary committee members. Furthermore, they are reportedly considering filing complaints and accusations with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials against Minister of National Defense Lee and Legal Affairs Officer Yoo Jae-eun for abuse of authority, indicating that the legal battle is expected to continue.

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