Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor, Summons Former Ministry of Justice Personnel Director on 'Lee Jong-seop Evasion Allegations'

[Financial News] The Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Team (Lee Myung-hyun Special Prosecutor) is investigating Park Haeng-yeol, former director of the Ministry of Justice's Personnel Information Management Team, who was involved in the personnel verification process for former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop's appointment as Australian ambassador. The special prosecutor is expected to focus on questioning the unusual speed and 'qualified' judgment of Lee's personnel verification.
Jung Min-young, assistant special prosecutor for Chae Sang-byeong, stated in a regular briefing on the 14th that they have been investigating the former director Park since the morning, saying, "The Ministry of Justice's Personnel Information Management Team conducted personnel verification for the appointment of the former minister as Australian ambassador and made a qualified decision," and "The investigation aims to confirm how the personnel verification process was conducted at that time."
The special prosecutor did not disclose the timing when the Ministry of Justice's Personnel Information Management Team made the qualified decision regarding the former minister. Currently, the special prosecutor is broadly examining the process of passing the personnel verification and the circumstances of the lifting of the travel ban.
The special prosecutor plans to summon Yoo Jae-eun, former legal officer of the Ministry of National Defense, on the 18th to verify the close contact details during the process of retrieving the Marine Corps investigation team's records by the Ministry of National Defense and subsequently booking Park Jeong-hoon, head of the Marine Corps investigation team (Colonel). Yoo will be investigated as a suspect on charges of abuse of authority.
Assistant Special Prosecutor Jung explained, "It is understood that Yoo played several roles in the process of the Ministry of National Defense's prosecution team taking the investigation records of the Chae Sang-byeong death case without permission on August 2, 2023, and booking Colonel Park for collective insubordination," adding, "We plan to comprehensively confirm the contact and instructions between the Presidential Office, Ministry of National Defense, and military prosecution team around August 2, 2023."
On the same day, the special prosecutor will also investigate former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun. This is to further confirm the situation during the chief secretary meeting on July 31, 2023, when the rumor of former President Yoon's 'rage' was raised, and it is expected that a prison visit investigation will be conducted for the former minister, who is currently detained at the Eastern Detention Center.
Additionally, the special prosecutor has decided to summon Kim Dong-hyuk, former head of the Ministry of National Defense's prosecution team, again at 10 a.m. on the 15th after completing the investigation the previous day. Further investigation is also scheduled for Cho Tae-yong, former head of the National Security Office, who was investigated on the same day. 
The special prosecutor is also completing forensic work on mobile phones seized from related parties in the Christian community's lobbying allegations, including Far East Broadcasting. They plan to conduct reference investigations on those involved in the Christian community's lobbying allegations and summon those related to the National Human Rights Commission case for investigation.
Meanwhile, the special prosecutor explained that the investigation into Lim Seong-geun, former commander of the 1st Marine Division, on charges of occupational negligence resulting in death is not yet complete, and additional investigations on other individuals besides the former commander are also ongoing.  


scottchoi15@fnnews.com Choi Eun-sol Reporter