The special counsel on the fallen Marine case sought a five-year prison term for former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was indicted on charges of involvement in appointing former Minister of the Ministry of National Defense Lee Jong-sup as ambassador to Australia and facilitating his departure overseas.
On July 24, at the final hearing in the case against the former president and others on charges including aiding a fugitive and abuse of authority to interfere with the exercise of rights, held before the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Agreement Division 22 (Presiding Judge Cho Hyeong-woo, senior judge), the special counsel made this request.
For Cho Tae-yong, former chief of the Office of National Security, and Park Seong-jae, former Minister of the Ministry of Justice, prosecutors sought three years in prison each. For Lee Si-won, former presidential secretary for public office discipline, Jang Ho-jin, former first Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Shim Woo-jung, former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, they asked the court to sentence each to two years in prison.
The special counsel argued that the process of appointing the former Minister as ambassador and lifting his travel ban was not the coincidental judgment of individual agencies but an organized act of aiding a fugitive carried out according to the intent of the former president.
The special counsel said, "The defendants closed their eyes to the truth and kept silent, conducted only a formal review to send Lee Jong-sup as ambassador, and mechanically went through the procedures to lift the travel ban," adding, "It was not an individual and accidental outcome but an organized act of concealing the truth."
Regarding the former president, the special counsel noted, "He mobilized the full force of state power for private purposes and for political aims ahead of the general election," and "went beyond merely obstructing criminal justice to comprehensively infringe on the state's investigative authority."
It further argued that it was fully foreseeable that sending the former Minister overseas could cause setbacks because the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials might not be able to investigate in a timely manner.
The special counsel presented as evidence of collusion that, even if there were no explicit instructions from the former president or prior meetings among the defendants, senior officials, aware of the president's anger and reproach, proceeded with the ambassadorial appointment and the lifting of the travel ban from their respective positions.
The special counsel said, "It is no small matter that the crime was realized not through explicit instructions but through silence," adding, "The gravity is high in that they neutralized criminal justice procedures by exploiting hierarchy and mutual trust among senior officials."
The former president is accused of attempting to help the former Minister, who was under CIO investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) over alleged external pressure on the probe into the death of Sgt. Chae on duty, flee overseas by appointing him ambassador to Australia.
The special counsel believes the ambassadorial appointment was pushed to block the investigation into the former Minister from expanding to the former president and the presidential office. Former Deputy Minister Cho and former Vice Minister Jang, and the former secretary Lee were indicted on charges of involvement in the selection and vetting process for the ambassadorship, while former Minister Park and former Vice Minister Shim were indicted on charges of involvement in the process of lifting the travel ban.