The special counsel team on the death of a Marine in the line of duty on the 27th sent six people, including former President Yoon Suk-yeol, to trial in connection with former Minister of the Ministry of National Defense Lee Jong-sup being appointed ambassador to Australia and leaving the country.
The special counsel team said on the 27th it indicted the former president without detention on charges of aiding a suspect's escape, abuse of authority, and violating the State Public Officials Act. Former Office of National Security Director Cho Tae-yong, former Ministry of Foreign Affairs First Vice Minister Jang Ho-jin, former civic ethics secretary Lee Si-won, former Minister of Justice Park Sung-jae, and former Vice Minister of Justice Shim Woo-jung (former prosecutor general) were also indicted.
Earlier, on Mar. 4 last year, the former president appointed former Minister of the Ministry of National Defense Lee as ambassador to Australia. Observers said the move was intended to strengthen defense and defense industry cooperation, given that large-scale defense export contracts, including Redback armored vehicles, had been concluded with Australia.
At the time, however, the former minister had been booked as a suspect in the alleged external pressure case surrounding the death in the line of duty of Marine Cpl. Chae Su-geun and was under investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO). The former minister had been under a travel ban, but it was lifted four days after the ambassadorial appointment. The former minister then immediately left the country to take up the post and returned 11 days later as public sentiment worsened ahead of the general election.
The former president is accused of ordering the ambassadorial appointment on Nov. 19, 2023, to send the former minister to Australia to evade investigation. That was when the alleged pressure on the investigation was being reported by the media and the opposition was calling for a special counsel. The special counsel team determined that the former president pushed the appointment out of concern that if the investigation into the former minister progressed, the former president would become a target as well.
The special counsel team viewed that, following the former president's instructions, the Office of National Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Justice participated in assisting the former minister's ambassadorial appointment and departure from the country. Former Director Cho and former Vice Minister Jang, acting on the former president's instructions in Nov.–Dec. 2023, ordered and pressed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to replace the ambassador to Australia, and the former civic ethics secretary was said to have altered the vetting report in favor of the former minister.
Former Minister Park and former Vice Minister Shim are accused of helping enable the former minister to flee overseas by lifting the travel ban imposed on the former minister in Mar. last year despite opposition from the CIO. The special counsel team determined that they had set a "lift policy" even before the Travel Ban Review Committee, which discusses whether to lift travel bans, convened.