◀ Anchor ▶
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 made claims regarding the death of Corporal Chae, saying, “I never gave an underwater search order” and “I had no control over the operation at the time.”
The affidavit submitted to the court in November of last year also included the statement, “The instructions of the commander of the 1st Marine Division, that is, myself, were effective until the transfer of operational control, and after that, it was the command of the commander of the Army’s 50th Division.”
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 order itself is problematic, and the problem is that there were no safety measures in accordance with the directive.”
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 prices,” and “The division commander’s emphasis.”
Following an unauthorized order to carry out an operation to ‘repair damage from heavy rain’, a specific order was given to change the operation to ‘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 National Defense does? If that’s the case, I don’t even know why they took the soldiers and why we serve here…”
In response to an MBC reporter’s inquiry as to whether former Division Commander Lim’s specific work instructions were a violation of operational control, the Marine Corps Command simply stated, “We cannot respond as this is an ongoing matter.”
This is Jo Jae-young from MBC News.
Video editing: Jo Min-seo
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