Lim Seong-geun, former commander of the Marine Corps’ 1st Division, has always maintained that he never ordered an underwater search because the Army had the authority to control the scene at the time of Corporal Chae’s accident, and therefore is not responsible.
However, new evidence has emerged that contradicts that claim.
It was revealed that former division commander Lim issued the operation order in his own name.
This is reporter Jaeyoung Cho.
◀ Report ▶
Former division commander Lim Seong-geun has consistently maintained that ″I never gave an underwater search order″ and ″I had no authority to control the operation at the time″ regarding the accident in which Corporal Chae died in the line of duty.
The affidavit submitted to the court in November of last year also included the statement, “The instructions of the 1st Marine Division commander, that is, myself, were effective until the transfer of operational control, and thereafter, it was the command of the Army 50th Division commander.”
However, new circumstances have been revealed in which former division commander Lim took actions that directly contradicted his claims.
On July 17, 2023, two days before Corporal Chae lost his life, operational control was transferred to the Army at 10 a.m.
From this point on, former Division Commander Lim must not issue any operational orders.
However, at 9:55 that night, about 12 hours later, a work order was issued in the name of the division commander to carry out a ‘heavy rain damage recovery operation.’
[김경호 변호사/해병대 포7대대장 법률대리인]
″It is a direct violation of the fragmentary orders of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the 2nd Operations Command. “The instructions themselves are a problem, and the problem is that there were no safety measures taken according to the instructions.”
Soon after, around 10 p.m., messages were being exchanged in the artillery battalion’s KakaoTalk room: “Tomorrow’s task will focus on searching for missing people,” “Search focusing on water,” and “The division commander’s emphasis.”
Following the unauthorized order to carry out an operation to ‘recover damage from heavy rain’, a specific order was given to change the operation to conduct a ‘search for missing persons’.
Marine Corps soldiers, including Corporal Chae, had to follow instructions to ‘search carefully in a checkerboard pattern’ in rainy weather, without any safety equipment.
[이 모 씨/채 상병 부대 해병대원(전역)]
″Is that the division commander? Is that what the Minister of Defense does? If that’s the case, I don’t know why they brought the sick and why we serve in the military…”
In response to a question from MBC reporters about whether former division commander Lim’s specific work instructions were a violation of operational control, the Marine Corps Command simply said, “We cannot respond because the matter is under investigation.”
This is Jo Jae-young from MBC News.
Video editing: Jo Min-seo
