The Marine Corps Special Investigation Team is questioning former Ministry of National Defense legal officer Yoo Jae-eun, who was summoned on the 18th. The special investigation team considers Yoo the key figure in the allegations of external pressure during the investigation into the death of Corporal Chae.
Yoo arrived at the Marine Corps Special Investigation Team's office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, at about 9:33 a.m. on that day.
When asked questions such as, "Do you think you have the authority to instruct the Minister of National Defense to withhold the transfer?", "Did you not think that contacting Colonel Park Jeong-hoon itself was external pressure?", and "Did you not think that the recovery of records itself was illegal?", he did not answer. Before entering the special investigation office, he only said, "I will sincerely cooperate with the investigation."
It is known that Yoo attended a Ministry of National Defense emergency meeting held immediately after former President Yoon Suk-yeol was enraged upon receiving the investigation results of Corporal Chae's death on July 31, 2023.
At that time, Yoo reportedly called Colonel Park Jeong-hoon, head of the Marine Corps investigation team that investigated Corporal Chae's death, and demanded that only people with clear charges write the case transfer document, while the rest should only state the facts and hand them over to the police. Initially, the Marine Corps investigation team planned to refer eight individuals, including former Marine Corps 1st Division commander Im Seong-geun, as suspects in professional negligence resulting in death to the police.
Yoo is also suspected of being involved in the process of recovering the investigative records from the Ministry of National Defense prosecution team when the Marine Corps investigation team forcibly transferred the investigation records to the Gyeongbuk Police Agency on August 2, 2023.
Meanwhile, the special investigation team is investigating the allegations of external pressure in the investigation into Corporal Chae's death based on the 'VIP anger theory.' The VIP anger theory suggests that former President Yoon Suk-yeol became enraged after receiving the investigation results regarding the Corporal Chae case during a presidential office meeting at 11 a.m. on July 31, 2023, and that he called the Minister to reprimand him, thereby preventing the transfer to the police and altering the investigation results.