Ministry of National Defense Rejects Former Investigation Unit Chief's Request to Reconvene Investigation Review Committee

"Judged for the Same Reasons as the August Review Matters"

The Ministry of National Defense did not accept the request to reconvene the Investigation Deliberation Committee for Park Jeong-hoon, former Marine Corps Investigation Unit Commander (Colonel), who has been booked on charges including insubordination.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Investigation Deliberation Committee is an organization under the Ministry of National Defense Prosecutor's Office established to enhance the fairness of investigations related to military incidents that have raised public suspicion or attracted social attention, such as the death of the late Air Force Sergeant Lee Ye-ram. Last month on the 31st, former Commander Park requested the reconvening of the committee to review 'whether to continue the investigation under the circumstance of a detention warrant being requested' and 'whether to prosecute or not.'

On the 4th, Jeon Ha-gyu, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, stated at a regular briefing, "After reviewing the former Marine Corps Investigation Unit Commander's request to reconvene the Investigation Deliberation Committee, it was judged that the request was made for the same reasons as those deliberated on August 25th, and according to Article 7, Paragraph 2 of the operating guidelines, the procedure was terminated."

Former Commander Park's side opposed the Ministry of National Defense's decision, arguing that while the previous Investigation Deliberation Committee reviewed whether to continue the investigation, the issue of prosecution or non-prosecution was not addressed, claiming, "Ultimately, this is an intention to prosecute former Commander Park by any means."

Previously, the Investigation Deliberation Committee was unable to reach a conclusion on whether to continue the investigation during the meeting on the 25th of last month. Former Commander 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 on the 19th of last month, to the police.

Former Commander 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.

The Ministry of National Defense Prosecutor's Office requested a pre-arrest warrant for former Commander Park, but it was dismissed. On this day, he will attend the first hearing for the suspension of execution of his dismissal from his post at the Suwon District Court. He filed the suspension of execution request on the 22nd of last month, asking the Suwon District Court to suspend the effect of his dismissal from the position of Marine Corps Investigation Unit Commander.

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