Col. Park Jung-hun, a former Marine Corps chief investigator, attends a press conference in Seoul held ahead of a court martial ruling on his insubordination charges on Jan. 9, 2024. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — A former Marine Corps chief investigator was acquitted on Thursday of subordination charges in a military probe into a young conscript killed during flood-related rescue operations.
A court martial in central Seoul delivered the ruling on Col. Park Jung-hun, who was accused of insubordination and defamation of his superior following an internal probe he led into the death of the corporal who was swept away by a torrent during a search for missing flood victims in July 2023.
The court martial acquitted Park of subordination charges, saying the investigative team has a duty to transfer the case to the police, and cleared defamation charges, citing a lack of evidence.
Military prosecutors earlier sought a three-year prison term for Park, claiming his denial of all charges “negatively” affects the command system and discipline of the military.
The ruling came more than a year after Park was indicted in October 2023 for allegedly handing over the internal probe results to the civilian police despite orders from then Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and the Marine Corps’ chief to wait for more legal deliberations.
Park’s case and its proceedings have made headlines amid the purported involvement of the presidential office in the retrieval of the probe results from police.
The former Marine investigator has claimed he was informed that the case retrieval was decided after President Yoon Suk Yeol reportedly grew angry over the inquiry result accusing military commanders.
Lee had initially approved the probe’s findings before reversing his decision a day later, raising questions over the move.
Park had drawn up a report accusing eight military officials of being responsible for the Marine’s death. But the defense ministry immediately retrieved it from the police, while he was subsequently dismissed and indicted.
In Thursday’s ruling, the court martial said the Marine investigative team has a duty to transfer the case to the police, pointing out that the Marine Corps chief has no authority to order deferring such a procedure.
Park has also told the media that he had felt “pressured” to remove the commander of the 1st Marine Division from a list of people found responsible for the death, claiming that Lee asked whether even the commander would face criminal charges during their meeting.
Prosecutors have rejected the remark as false, accusing Park of defaming the minister.
Park’s lawyers had pleaded not guilty, citing the lack of a clear order from his superior on transferring the case to the police and illegal influence-peddling.
Park also denied defamation charges, saying he did not have any intention to do so.
The 20-year-old Marine’s death and developments over the military’s internal probe had fueled national outrage, especially over initial findings that the conscript and his colleagues were mobilized without proper safety gear.
(Yonhap)
