[2nd Report] Ministry of National Defense Transfers to Police Excluding Charges Against Marine 1st Division Commander

The Ministry of National Defense decided to hand over to the police the case of the late Corporal Chae, who died after being swept away by a rapid current while deployed without a life jacket during the search for missing persons in heavy rain, without specifying charges against the superior officer, Marine Corps 1st Division Commander Im Seong-geun, and only stating the facts.

On the 21st, the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters announced the "Review Results of the Marine Corps Death Accident." Previously, the Marine Corps Investigation Unit had investigated Commander Im as a suspect of negligent homicide, but this was overturned following the Ministry of National Defense's review. The Investigation Headquarters re-examined the eight individuals whom the Marine Corps Investigation Unit initially judged to have charges during the preliminary investigation, and decided to forward the case to the police without specifying charges against four individuals, including Division Commander Im Seong-geun and 7th Brigade Commander Park Sang-hyun, only stating the facts.

The Investigation Headquarters explained, "Among the four individuals who were in the command chain related to the search activities or assigned as on-site controllers, problems were identified; however, due to some contradictory testimonies and other circumstances, it was limited to specify criminal charges based solely on the current records." They added, "The four individuals with identified issues will have their respective facts stated and, together with all case records transferred from the Marine Corps Investigation Unit, will be forwarded to the police to proceed with the necessary investigations."

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