Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul appeared on the 24th to be questioned as a suspect by the special counsel probing the Marines case. Cho is suspected of having intervened last year in the process by which former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup was appointed ambassador to Australia.
Cho arrived at the special counsel's office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, at about 9:51 a.m. that day. To questions from reporters such as "Was there any instruction from the president regarding the appointment of former Minister Lee Jong-sup as ambassador to Australia?" he said, "I will answer faithfully in the investigation," and then entered the interview room.
The special counsel is expected to ask Cho about discussions within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the presidential office nominated former Minister Lee as ambassador to Australia, the process of pushing forward the head-of-mission eligibility review, and subsequent instructions and reporting to the presidential office.
Cho is suspected of abuse of authority to obstruct the exercise of rights and aiding a suspect's escape. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs during the period when former Minister Lee underwent the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' head-of-mission eligibility review, was appointed ambassador to Australia on Mar. 4 last year, and resigned on the 29th of the same month.
The special counsel last month conducted searches and seizures at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, and the Presidential Archives, and questioned Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials. It was reported that, through this, they secured statements that the head-of-mission eligibility review was pushed through in haste.
The special counsel is investigating the former minister's "Australia escape allegation." The allegation is that former President Yoon Suk-yeol appointed former Minister Lee, who faced allegations of exerting pressure on the investigation into the death of Sgt. Chae, as ambassador to Australia in Mar. last year and lifted the travel ban to enable the escape.
Earlier, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which investigated allegations of pressure on the investigation into Sgt. Chae's death, applied for a travel ban on former Minister Lee on Dec. 7, 2023, and the Ministry of Justice imposed the travel ban on Lee the next day. The CIO then extended the travel ban on Lee three times. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Mar. 4 of the following year that Lee had been appointed ambassador to Australia, and four days later, on the 8th, the Ministry of Justice lifted the travel ban on Lee, who was a suspect.