Former Marine Corps Chief Investigator Requests Reassembly of Investigation Review Committee Again

"Unjustified Request for Pre-Arrest Warrant"

Former Marine Corps Investigation Unit Commander (Colonel) Park Jeong-hoon requested the convening of an investigative review committee on the 31st to determine whether the Ministry of National Defense prosecution team's pre-arrest warrant request was justified. The military prosecution had requested a pre-arrest warrant for Colonel Park the day before, and a warrant hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. on the 1st of next month at the Yongsan Military Court, but they argue that the pre-arrest warrant request is unjust.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 31st, Park's legal representatives stated, "Despite the majority opinion at the investigative review committee being to 'suspend the investigation,' the Ministry of National Defense prosecution team's request for a pre-arrest warrant is an unjust act," emphasizing, "The prosecution's reason for requesting the warrant, citing concerns over evidence tampering, is not valid."

They added, "The committee's review scope includes whether to request an arrest warrant," and "Requesting a warrant and continuing the investigation is a request for review, and this does not constitute repeated applications for the same reason."

Accordingly, former Commander Park requested the convening of the investigative review committee to review both the continuation of the investigation with the arrest warrant request and the decision on prosecution or non-prosecution. The investigative review committee is an organization under the Ministry of National Defense prosecution team established to enhance the fairness of investigations related to military incidents that have raised public suspicion or social attention, such as the death case of the late Air Force Sergeant Lee Yeram.

In response, the military prosecution explained the reason for the warrant request, stating, "We have made efforts for a swift investigation of the suspect, but considering the seriousness of the case and concerns over evidence tampering in a situation where the suspect continues to refuse the investigation."

On the 25th, the investigative review committee was also convened at the request of former Commander Park to review whether to continue the investigation but failed to reach a conclusion. Among the 10 committee members present at the time, 5 expressed opinions to suspend the investigation, 4 supported continuing the investigation, and 1 abstained without giving an opinion. Although the majority favored suspending the investigation, the committee did not issue an opinion because the operating guidelines require a majority of attending members' approval to pass a resolution.

Earlier, on the 19th of last month, Colonel Park was booked by the military prosecution on charges of insubordination under the Military Criminal Act for not following the Minister of National Defense's order to withhold transferring the investigation results related to Marine Corps Corporal Chae, who died after being swept away by a rapid current while searching for missing persons during heavy rain. Former Colonel Park claimed that he did not explicitly receive an order from the Minister of National Defense to withhold the transfer of the investigation results and alleged that the Ministry of National Defense's legal affairs officer exerted external pressure to remove the charges, suspect facts, and allegations from the investigation report.

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