“Suspicious involvement of the President’s office in the ‘Chae Sang-byeong incident’” calls for the National Assembly Steering Committee to be convened

◀ Anchor ▶

The Democratic Party targeted the President’s Office and demanded that the National Assembly Steering Committee be convened.

Suspicion has grown that the President’s Office intervened in the investigation into the death of Chae Sang-byeong in the line of duty and exerted external pressure.

The Marine Corps Reserve National Solidarity filed a complaint to the Corruption Investigation Office against Public Service Discipline Secretary Lee Si-won, who was confirmed to have spoken on the phone with President Yoon Seok-yeol and the Ministry of National Defense’s legal affairs officer.

This is reporter Kim Jeong-woo’s report.

◀ Report ▶

Yoo Jae-eun, a legal affairs official at the Ministry of National Defense, attended the National Assembly last year.

The Ministry of National Defense’s prosecution team revealed that the retrieval of investigation records on the death of Chae Sang-byeong from the Gyeongbuk Police Agency was at the direction of then-Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop.

[최강욱/전 민주당 의원 – 신범철/전 국방부 차관 (지난해 8월, 국회)]
“The prosecution team of the Ministry of National Defense brought investigation materials from the Gyeongbuk Police Agency.

[최강욱/전 민주당 의원 – 유재은/국방부 법무관리관 (지난해 8월, 국회)]
“Who gave that order? Who gave the order? ”

However, former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop recently revealed through his lawyer that he learned about the recovery of the case records after returning from a business trip to Uzbekistan.

However, since the prosecution team that recovered the case is part of the Ministry of Defense, they stated that it is okay to evaluate it as their own actions.

The Democratic Party claimed that the positions of Justice Manager Yoo Jae-eun and former Minister Lee Jong-seop were different.

Regarding the phone call between Presidential Office Discipline Secretary Lee Si-won and Legal Affairs Officer Yoo Jae-eun, the ruling party criticized the request for a convening of the National Assembly Steering Committee as suspicions of intervention in the Presidential Office grew greater, but the ruling party refused.

[박주민/더불어민주당 원내수석부대표]
“One of them is lying. I said, ‘Let’s open a steering committee meeting,’ and ‘It was revealed that Lee Si-won, secretary for public service discipline, called. Shouldn’t we check it?’ He flatly refused.”

The People Power Party took the position that “we need to receive a national evaluation to see if the problem is that serious,” and also drew a line with regard to special prosecutor Chae Sang-byeong, saying, “The prerequisite for a special prosecutor is when the investigation is poor or there are problems.”

[윤재옥/국민의힘 원내대표]
“Looking at the past few days, the Democratic Party has gotten the feeling that they are completely ‘hanging their necks’ on the special investigation of Corporal…”

The National Association of Marine Corps Reserves filed a complaint to the Corruption Investigation Office against Presidential Office Discipline Secretary Lee Si-won, who was confirmed to have spoken on the phone with President Yoon Seok-yeol and Legal Affairs Officer Yoo Jae-eun, on charges of abuse of power and other charges.

[정원철/해병대 예비역 연대 회장]
“Is the President’s Office the ultimate villain in interfering with the investigation of Corporal Chae’s death in the line of duty? The President’s Office should stop mocking the public and apologize now!”

The Democratic Party, which pledged to hold two plenary sessions next month and pass the Special Prosecutor Act, plans to submit a request to convene an extraordinary session of the National Assembly in May tomorrow.

This is Kim Jeong-woo from MBC News.

Video coverage: Park Joo-il / Video editing: Kim Jae-seok

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