"Marine death case" Yoon Suk-yeol, the former president indicted on charges of pressuring and covering up the investigation, denied all the charges at the first preparatory hearing.
At the preparatory hearing on Feb. 3 before the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 27 (Presiding Judge Woo In-seong) for charges including abuse of authority and invalidation of official documents, the former president's attorney said there was no instruction or intent whatsoever to exclude Lim Seong-geun, the former commander of the 1st Marine Division, from the list of suspects, and added there was no instruction or collusion regarding the matters listed in the indictment, including the retrieval of records, the dismissal of former Marine Corps investigative chief Park Jeong-hun from his post, and changes to the investigation results. The defense also argued that even if instructions had been given, they were a legitimate exercise of authority by the commander-in-chief and therefore do not constitute the crime of abuse of authority.
A preparatory hearing is a procedure in which the defendant and the prosecutor organize issues and plans of proof before the formal trial, and the defendant is not required to appear. A preparatory hearing for the Ministry of National Defense Spokesperson and others was held on the 29th, but this was the first preparatory hearing in the main "investigation pressure" case.
According to the special prosecutor's indictment, immediately after receiving a report on the investigation results at a senior secretaries' meeting presided over by the president on July 31, 2023, the former president reprimanded former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup, and then, as the presidential office and the Ministry of National Defense postponed referring the case to the North Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency and had the Defense Criminal Investigation Command conduct a re-review, exerted pressure to exclude the former division commander Lim from the list of suspects.
The former president, former Minister Lee, former Office of National Security Director Cho Tae-yong, and former Vice Minister Shin Beom-chul all denied the charges. Former Minister Lee's side argued that the retrieval of records and the referral to the investigative command were measures within the minister's authority. Former Director Cho's side said there was neither an instruction to retrieve records nor any conveyance of such to former Senior Secretary for Public Office Discipline Lee Si-won. However, Cho's side acknowledged the charges of drafting and using a false official document, referring to the submission on Aug. 30, 2023, during a National Assembly briefing, of a written response stating that the case was not reported at a presidential office meeting and there was no reprimand. Former Vice Minister Shin's side denied the charges related to phone calls with former Minister Lee, who was on a business trip to Uzbekistan.
Former Marine Corps Commandant Kim Gye-hwan, former legal affairs director-general Yoo Jae-eun, former military aide Park Jin-hee, and former head of the prosecution unit Kim Dong-hyeok also said they could not admit the charges, disputing the facts or arguing that the acts do not constitute crimes.
The court said it would hold one more preparatory hearing on the 18th of next month and begin the formal trial in April. Witnesses to be examined may include former investigative chief Park and former Defense Criminal Investigation Command chief Kim Jin-rak.