The particular counsel investigating the 2023 dying of a Marine stated Friday it has indicted former President Yoon Suk Yeol on costs of exerting undue strain on the navy’s investigation into the case, with 11 different former senior safety and protection officers additionally indicted.
Yoon has been questioned by the particular counsel over suspicions that he ordered the presidential workplace and the protection ministry to reverse the preliminary findings of a navy investigation into the dying of Cpl. Chae Su-geun, with the intention to relieve a then Marine commander of accountability.
The most recent indictment is an addition to different indictments introduced towards the ousted former chief over his temporary imposition of martial regulation on Dec. 3.
Yoon will stand trial on costs of abuse of energy and tampering with official paperwork.
This indictment comes with out bodily detention, however Yoon has already been positioned below arrest on martial law-related costs.
The particular counsel additionally indicted 11 others, together with former spy chief Cho Tae-yong and former Protection Minister Lee Jong-sup, for his or her alleged involvement in Chae’s case at Yoon’s directions.
The late Marine died on July 19, 2023, after being swept away in a swollen stream throughout a search mission for victims of heavy rains with out carrying a life vest or different security gear.
A navy investigation into the case concluded that eight people, together with Lim Seong-geun, former commander of the Marine Corps 1st Division, had been suspected of occupational negligence leading to dying.
Lee, then protection minister, had initially accredited the investigation report with out objection. However he later ordered the probe to not be referred to the police after Yoon “burst into rage” upon being briefed on its findings, in line with the particular counsel.
Col. Park Jung-hoon, who had led the Marine Corps’ investigation into Chae’s dying, was dismissed from his place after defying Lee’s orders.
The particular counsel believes that Yoon made illegal orders to the protection ministry and the presidential workplace on the time, going past his presidential authority.
“The president as the top of the federal government has the authority to supervise investigative companies by the heads of every ministry, however that is of a basic and declaratory nature, which ought to be exercised in accordance with the rule of regulation and rules of due course of,” the particular counsel stated.
“Going past this and making particular directions for a selected case undermines the equity and independence of investigations, and infringes upon individuals’s fundamental rights by arbitrary regulation enforcement that’s not permitted,” it stated.
Lee was appointed by Yoon because the ambassador to Australia in March 2024, elevating suspicion that Yoon helped him evade accountability over the Marine’s dying case.
Yoon has denied all allegations.
