Marine Special Prosecutor Seizes Mobile Phone of Prosecutor Park Cheolwan, 'Cousin of Lim Sunggeun'

Special Prosecutor: "Close Communication on Several Occasions During Investigation Into Corporal Chae's Death"
Legal Advice to Former Commander Lim Detected During Last Year's Hearing

Lim Sunggeun, former commander of the 1st Marine Division, is taking the witness oath at the hearing related to the public petition requesting the proposal of the impeachment motion against President Yoon Sukyeol, held at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on July 19 last year. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The special prosecutor's team led by Lee Myunghyun, which is investigating allegations of external pressure and cover-up in the death of Corporal Chae, has seized the mobile phone of Park Cheolwan, a prosecutor at the Busan District Prosecutors' Office who is known to be a maternal cousin of Lim Sunggeun, the former commander of the 1st Marine Division.

Special Prosecutor Jeong Minyoung stated at a regular briefing on September 25, "We have secured Prosecutor Park's mobile phone, as he is a relative of former Commander Lim and communicated closely with him several times during the investigation into Corporal Chae's death."

On July 19 last year, during a hearing at the National Assembly related to the public petition for the impeachment of then-President Yoon Sukyeol, former Commander Lim was seen seeking legal advice from Prosecutor Park via text message. At the time, Prosecutor Park explained that he only provided advice regarding the public release of the mobile phone and the witness oath.

Special Prosecutor Jeong said, "Currently, former Commander Lim is refusing to provide his password and is not cooperating with the investigation. The special prosecutor's team has been able to confirm some of the information stored on his mobile phone and has also reviewed parts of his conversations with Prosecutor Park."

He added, "Based on new evidence, we determined it was necessary to seize Prosecutor Park's mobile phone, so we explained this to the court, obtained a warrant, and executed the seizure. While communication itself does not constitute a crime, we have confirmed that there were several contacts during that period."

Prosecutor Park's residence and office were not included in the scope of the search and seizure. The special prosecutor's team plans to summon Prosecutor Park as soon as the analysis of the seized items is complete to verify what discussions took place with former Commander Lim.

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