Chaesangbyeong Incident: Ruling Party Says "Investigation Team Leader Defied Orders," Opposition Suspects "External Pressure" (Comprehensive)

On the 21st at the National Assembly Judiciary Committee, a dispute over 'investigation interference' allegations
In the afternoon, a heated debate over the prosecution's special activity funds
Choi Kang-wook "Acting cocky" vs Han Dong-hoon "Apologize"

On the 21st, the ruling and opposition parties clashed in the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee over allegations of 'investigation interference' related to the case of the late Marine Corps Corporal Chae Mo, who died in the line of duty while searching for flood victims, as well as controversies surrounding the prosecution's special activity funds.

Shin Beom-chul, Deputy Minister of National Defense, is talking with officials at the plenary meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly on the 21st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

During the full committee meeting that morning, the Democratic Party questioned whether there was external pressure from the Ministry of National Defense to withhold the transfer of the case to the police, which was led by former Marine Corps investigation team leader Park Jeong-hoon, while the People Power Party countered that Park had disobeyed orders.

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Young-bae claimed, "There are many circumstances that inevitably raise suspicions that the Presidential Office and ministers directly intervened to protect the commander of the 1st Marine Division (Im Seong-geun)." Lawmaker Park Joo-min pointed out, "Since there have been many cases of concealment of sexual assault and death incidents within the military, the purpose of amending the Military Court Act was to promptly transfer such cases to civilian police. So why was there a request to review this case again?"

In response, People Power Party lawmaker Park Hyung-soo said, "If the Marine Corps Commander (Kim Gye-hwan) instructed to withhold the transfer during a staff meeting attended by former team leader Park, and the commander never reversed that order, then transferring the case would naturally be an act of insubordination." Lawmaker Jang Dong-hyeok also supported this, saying, "There seems to be no reason at all for Park to have recklessly disobeyed the order to withhold the transfer."

Deputy Minister of National Defense Shin Beom-cheol emphasized that "no one in the Ministry of National Defense, including the Minister, exerted external pressure to exclude or include specific individuals in the investigation results of the Marine Corps investigation team."

When Democratic Party lawmaker Park Beom-gye asked, "Did former team leader Park lie?" Shin raised his voice, saying, "I am stating that something untrue is not true. Why are you forcing me to say it is a lie?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In the afternoon, the parties clashed over the disclosure of the prosecution's special activity funds and business promotion expenses. Special activity funds are expenses used for confidential information gathering and case investigations. Amid recent controversies over misuse and inadequate data provision, the Democratic Party pointed out a 'tax revenue gap.'

Democratic Party lawmaker Park Yong-jin said regarding the Board of Audit and Inspection's audit of the prosecution's special activity funds, "Special activity funds are only checked through a checklist due to their special nature. However, according to the Board of Audit and Inspection's guidelines for improving special activity funds, internal control measures such as self-guidelines should be established and submitted to the Board." He added, "(The Board) said they have never properly received such submissions," and criticized, "This is the problem. We thought the Board of Audit and Inspection would conduct thorough audits, but they just stood by." Park emphasized, "Respect for the taxpayers who pay with their blood and sweat must be upheld by cutting such expenses (like prosecution special activity funds)."

Minister Han countered, "It is a lie that the Board of Audit and Inspection could not review the documents," and said, "To claim that taxpayers' money was embezzled, there should be evidence like a lawmaker in 2018 submitting duplicate receipts to the National Election Commission and the National Assembly Secretariat to embezzle money. Such evidence is necessary." He continued, "Claiming 'bribery' without any basis about the receipts is very insulting."

During the subsequent Q&A, Democratic Party lawmaker Choi Kang-wook criticized Minister Han's attitude. When Park was questioning, Minister Han raised his voice in rebuttal, leading to a mixed exchange of questions and answers. During the exchange with Choi, the struggle for control caused questions and answers to overlap, and when Minister Han said, "You don't give me a chance and yet ask me to answer again," Choi retorted, "That's why people say you keep being cheeky."

When Minister Han responded, "Isn't that too much?" Choi replied again, "Don't be cheeky. That's why you keep hearing disrespectful language."

Afterward, a heated debate broke out between ruling and opposition lawmakers over the minister's tone and the authority of National Assembly members.

People Power Party lawmaker Jang Dong-hyeok criticized, "If you want to criticize the attitude of ministers or government officials appearing before the committee, lawmakers must also conduct their inquiries appropriately within the scope entrusted by the people. There is a line that should not be crossed during questioning, and directly saying 'cheeky' is lawmakers undermining their own authority." On the other hand, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Young-bae pointed out, "The process where the minister talks over the questions to the point that the inquiries cannot be heard is not a normal Q&A process," and said, "Chairman Kim Do-eup should correct this immediately."

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