The Marine special prosecutor noted on the 23rd that "former Marine Corps commander Kim Gye-hwan acknowledged for the first time in court on the 22nd that he was aware of the rage of Yoon Suk-yeol, the former president."
During the morning briefing, special prosecutor Jeong Min-young said, "Former commander Kim changed part of his stance that he had maintained before the arrest warrant request" and added, "We believe that additional investigations into other charges, including the changes in his statements, are necessary."
Jeong said, "We plan to call Kim again soon as a suspect for questioning."
Former commander Kim is under suspicion of being involved in the process of external pressure from higher authorities against Park Jeong-hoon, the former head of the Marine Corps investigation unit (Colonel), who led the initial investigation into the death of Private Chae in July-August 2023. The Marine special prosecutor plans to uncover the reality of the "VIP rage theory" through Kim.
The "VIP rage theory" alleges that Yoon, the former president, was enraged after being briefed on the investigation results of the Chae case during a presidential office meeting at 11 a.m. on July 31, 2023, and that he called then-Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop to reprimand him, thereby delaying the transfer to the police and altering the investigation results.
Meanwhile, the special prosecutor plans to summon Heo Tae-geun, the former head of the Defense Policy Office, as a witness for questioning on the 25th. Heo was present during the briefing when the former minister received the contents of the presidential office meeting. Jeong said, "We plan to comprehensively investigate the contents reported at that time and the minister's instructions."