Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor, Summons Former Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol Next Week

[Financial News] The Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Team (Lee Myung-hyun Special Prosecutor) will summon former Vice Minister of Justice Lee No-gong and former Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol as suspects next week in relation to the escape allegations of former Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop. This is the first time the two are being investigated by the special prosecutor.
Jeong Min-young, the assistant special prosecutor, announced at a regular press briefing held at the Seocho Hansem Building in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 19th that former Vice Minister Lee will be summoned on the 23rd and former Minister Cho on the 24th, stating, "Based on the investigation so far, we will start a full-scale investigation of the suspects related to the 'Australian Ambassador Case' from next week."
Assistant Special Prosecutor Jeong explained about former Vice Minister Lee, "The Ministry of Justice's Personnel Information Management Division had the position of vice minister when verifying the personnel of the former minister," and about former Minister Cho, "He was the person in charge of overseeing the appointment, departure, return, and resignation process of the former minister as the Australian ambassador in March last year."
He continued, "The special prosecutor plans to investigate the illegal activities that occurred during the process of former Minister Lee Jong-seop becoming the Australian ambassador, who was a major suspect in the Chae Sang-byeong case investigation pressure," adding, "The two have been accused as suspects for aiding and abetting a criminal and abuse of power."
Previously, the special prosecutor team executed a search and seizure of the offices and mobile phones of former Vice Minister Lee and former Minister Cho on the 4th of last month.
Former Minister Lee was accused by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) of exerting external pressure on the transfer and retrieval process of the Marine Corps Investigation Team's case after Chae Sang-byeong of the Marine Corps died in the line of duty in July 2023. In response, the CIO requested a travel ban on former Minister Lee, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appointed him as the Australian ambassador on March 4, 2023.
The Ministry of Justice lifted the travel ban on former Minister Lee on March 8, 2023, four days after his appointment as the Australian ambassador. Subsequently, former Minister Lee departed for Australia but returned 11 days later and resigned 25 days after his appointment as ambassador. 



kyu0705@fnnews.com Kim Dong-kyu Reporter