The second comprehensive special prosecutor team led by Special Prosecutor Kwon Chang-young — investigating allegations left unresolved after three earlier special prosecutor probes into insurrection, Kim Keon Hee and the Marine corporal case — has declined to indict Kim Cheol-mun, former chief of the North Gyeongsang Province Police Agency, on charges that he exerted improper pressure during the process that led to a no-referral decision for former Marine 1st Division commander Maj. Gen. Im Seong-geun.
The special prosecutor team recently cleared Kim of abuse-of-authority and related charges, finding insufficient evidence to proceed. The team reached that conclusion based on testimony from those involved and a review by its case deliberation committee.
The case stems from the death of Marine Cpl. Chae in July 2023, who was killed while searching for missing persons during heavy flooding. Allegations of improper pressure from superiors emerged both in connection with the death itself and with the subsequent investigation. Im, who was in the Marine Corps chain of command at the time, was identified as a central figure in the case.
On Aug. 2, 2023, the North Gyeongsang Province Police Agency received case files from the Marine Corps investigation unit listing Im on charges of professional negligence resulting in death, then returned them to the Ministry of National Defense prosecution unit. After receiving the files back, the agency issued a no-referral decision for Im the following July.
Kim had been suspected of involvement in illegal conduct — including improper pressure on the investigation — during the process that led to the no-referral decision. Specific allegations included that, in convening the case deliberation committee, he ensured only evidence supporting Im's position was recorded while omitting evidence and testimony that undermined it.
The earlier Marine corporal special prosecutor team, led by Special Prosecutor Lee Myeong-hyeon, investigated Kim, former North Gyeongsang Province Police Agency chief Choi Ju-won and former agency investigation chief Roh Gyu-ho — currently director of the Police Investigation Training Institute — but could not conclude the cases within its mandate. It transferred them to the Korean National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters last November.
Under the Marine Corporal Special Prosecutor Act, cases that cannot be completed or resolved within the investigation period must be handed over to the National Investigation Headquarters. The current special prosecutor team, which launched Feb. 25, received the cases from the headquarters and continued the investigation.
The special prosecutor team indicted former chief Choi and former investigation chief Roh without detention on Thursday, finding sufficient grounds to charge them with abuse of authority. The team also indicted Lee Si-won, former presidential office public ethics secretary, and Im Gi-hun, former National Security Council defense secretary, without detention on charges of leaking official secrets.
According to the special prosecutor team, Choi and Roh knowingly returned the Marine case files to the Ministry of National Defense prosecution unit despite knowing the files had been lawfully transferred to the North Gyeongsang Province Police Agency under the revised Military Court Act and that returning them was unlawful — thereby abusing their authority and obstructing investigators at the agency's serious crimes unit from opening a formal investigation.
The special prosecutor team also found that, before the North Gyeongsang Province Police Agency executed a search and seizure warrant on the Marine 1st Division in September 2023, former secretary Lee received a briefing on the planned search from a National Investigation Headquarters official and passed that information to former secretary Im, who in turn leaked it to officials at the Ministry of National Defense — allowing the Marine Corps side to be tipped off in advance.
bell@heraldcorp.com
