The Marine Special Prosecutor's Office announced that it plans to visit the Seoul Eastern Detention Center at 2 p.m. on the 18th to investigate former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun.
On that day, Special Prosecutor Jeong Min-young noted in a morning briefing, "Former Minister Kim was identified as having attended the presidential office's chief secretary meeting on Jul. 31, 2023," and said, "We will conduct an investigation into former President Yoon Suk-yeol's reaction after receiving the report on the initial investigation results of the deceased Marine, Chae Sang-byeong, and the subsequent instructions and overall issues."
During the presidential office's chief secretary meeting on Jul. 31, 2023, the rumor of a 'VIP's anger' surfaced. The VIP anger rumor suggests that former President Yoon became enraged after receiving a report on the investigation results related to the death of the Marine, Chae, at 11 a.m. during the meeting, and subsequently, former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seob instructed to hold back the police transfer and conduct a media briefing.
At that time, former Minister Kim was the head of the presidential security service. Former Minister Kim was a senior to former President Yoon at Chungam High School and was considered one of Yoon's closest aides and a significant power holder in the administration.
Meanwhile, the special prosecutor said it summoned a person surnamed Song, a participant in the 'Cool Marines' group chat, for questioning that morning. Special Prosecutor Jeong noted, "We will conduct a forensic examination of Song's mobile phone in the morning and start the witness questioning in the afternoon."
The special prosecutor suspects that the 'Cool Marines' group chat room was a major channel for lobbying for the former Marine Corps 1st Division commander Im Seong-geun. The 'lobbying suspicion' refers to allegations that participants in the 'Cool Marines' chat room, including former Black Pearl Invest CEO Lee Jong-ho, a key figure in the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case, sought to lobby for the ex-division commander's safety.