The Special Investigation Team for the deceased Marine will summon Colonel Park Jeong-hoon, the head of the Marine investigation team, on the 16th for questioning. Colonel Park is the person who exposed the external pressure during the initial investigation into the death of Private Chae.
On that day, the Special Investigation Team stated, "In the afternoon, Colonel Park is scheduled to appear at the Special Investigation Team as a witness to undergo questioning."
The Special Investigation Team plans to investigate Colonel Park regarding the professional negligence manslaughter charges against former Division Commander Lim Seong-geun, the external pressure received from military leadership during the initial investigation, the process of withholding and retrieving the case transfer, and the subsequent allegations of targeted investigations by the military prosecution aimed at Colonel Park.
As the head of the Marine investigation team, Colonel Park led the initial investigation into the death of Private Chae in July 2023. However, on the 31st of the same month, he was indicted for insubordination after forcibly transferring the case to the police despite then-Marine Corps Commander Kim Gye-hwan's order to "withhold the transfer of the case."
The order to withhold the transfer was issued after a presidential office meeting in which rumors of "VIP anger" surfaced. The VIP anger rumor suggests that former President Yoon was furious after receiving a report on the investigation results of the Private Chae case during a presidential office meeting on July 31, 2023, at 11 a.m., and pressured then-Minister Lee Jong-seop by phone to withhold the case transfer and alter the investigation results.
Colonel Park was acquitted in a first trial for the insubordination charges earlier this year. The Special Investigation Team later dropped its appeal, confirming the acquittal. Consequently, Colonel Park recently returned as the head of the Marine investigation team and also regained his position as the chief of military police of the Marine Corps.