Former presidential secretary Kang Eui-gu leaves special counsel Cho Eun-suk’s office inside the Seoul High Prosecutors Office in southern Seoul, in this June 30, 2025, file photo. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 15 (Korea Bizwire) — A special counsel team said Tuesday it has asked the prosecution to conduct a forensic analysis of a cellphone previously used by former President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The team led by special counsel Lee Myeong-hyeon secured an iPhone used by Yoon during a raid on his home in southern Seoul last Friday.
“The purpose is to look into his calls with those involved in the case,” assistant special counsel Jeong Min-young said during a press briefing, noting, however, that the team has yet to hear back from the Supreme Prosecutors Office on whether a forensic analysis is possible without knowledge of the phone’s passcode.
Lee’s team also plans to summon former presidential secretary Kang Eui-gu on Wednesday for questioning over the presidential office’s suspected interference in an initial probe into the 2023 death of a Marine.
Kang, a former investigator for the prosecution, is known as a confidant of Yoon and worked for the presidential office during his term.
“We plan to verify whether the presidential office intervened in the overall process from immediately after Cpl. Chae’s death to the (initial) investigation,” Jeong said.
The team has been investigating allegations that Yoon flew into a rage during a meeting of senior presidential secretaries on July 31, 2023, after being briefed on the results of a military investigation that found a senior Marine commander responsible for the death of Cpl. Chae Su-geun.
Chae died earlier that month after being swept away by a swollen stream during a search for torrential rain victims.
“(Kang) did not attend the meeting on July 31, 2023, but he is known to have held multiple phone calls with then presidential defense secretary Lim Ki-hoon the same day,” Jeong said.
Lim is suspected of having told then Marine Corps Commandant Kim Kye-hwan about Yoon’s anger during the meeting, leading to the results of the investigation being changed.
The special counsel also plans to question former presidential economic security secretary Wang Yun-jong as a witness later in the day.
(Yonhap)
