Colonel Park Jeong-hoon, who was acquitted in the first trial for charges of insubordination, will return as the head of the investigation team. This comes as the Special Prosecutor's Team for Im Yeong-hyeon, investigating the alleged pressure on the investigation into the death of Corporal Chae, has withdrawn its appeal against Colonel Park, confirming his acquittal.
The Marine Corps announced on the 10th that "with the withdrawal of the special prosecutor's appeal confirming Colonel Park's acquittal, he is set to be reappointed as the head of the Marine Corps investigation team as of the 11th." This comes 1 year and 11 months after he was relieved from the position of team head in August 2023.
Previously, Colonel Park, who was the head of the Marine Corps investigation team, was brought to trial for allegedly failing to comply with a directive from the commander not to refer records containing charges of professional negligence resulting in death against former division commander Lim Seong-geun and other Marine Corps leaders to the police.
The military court in the first trial stated, "There is no authority to order the suspension of transfer to the commander, and it is difficult to view it as a legitimate order," and acquitted Colonel Park. Although the military prosecution appealed, the withdrawal of the special prosecutor's appeal led to an affirmation of Colonel Park's acquittal. The Im Yeong-hyeon special prosecutor's team officially received Colonel Park's trial from the military prosecution on the 2nd and was tasked with maintaining the prosecution.
The defense team for Colonel Park, which had announced a press conference for the day, stated, "The fact that Colonel Park is an active-duty soldier remains unchanged, and the tasks of uncovering the truth regarding the obstruction of investigation into the death of the Marine and the concealment of the case that the special prosecutor must reveal are still ongoing," adding, "Colonel Park and the defense team will also make every effort to resolve the remaining tasks."