Special Counsel to Question Lee Si-won on Alleged Pressure in Marine Death Probe

Kwon Chang-young’s second comprehensive special counsel team, which is investigating unresolved allegations following three earlier special counsel probes (insurrection, Kim Keon Hee and the fallen Marine), will summon Lee Si-won in connection with claims of outside pressure on the Marine death investigation.

The special counsel said Lee will be questioned as a witness on the 23rd. The team said the questioning concerns matters tied to the earlier special counsel cases and is unrelated to the North Korea remittance case transferred from the Seoul High Prosecutors Office human rights inspection task force to the Suwon District Prosecutors Office.

The inquiry centers on allegations of interference surrounding the death of a Marine Corps 1st Division private in July 2023. At the time, Marine investigator Park Jeong-hun, then head of the Marine Corps investigative unit, transferred the case to police after applying negligent homicide charges to Lim Seong-geun, then commander of the 1st Division, and others. After the transfer, the records were retrieved, prompting suspicions that the presidential office and the Defense Ministry intervened in the investigation.

The episode also fueled the so-called “VIP anger” claim — that Yoon Suk Yeol, described in the case as a former president, strongly reprimanded officials after being briefed on the findings and that the direction of the investigation then changed. The special counsel views whether there was improper pressure in the record-retrieval process as a key issue.

Investigators plan to examine whether Lee was involved in the retrieval of the records. He is suspected of taking part in checking the transfer process, including speaking in August 2023 with Yoo Jae-eun, then the Defense Ministry’s legal affairs chief, and contacting police after receiving instructions from Cho Tae-yong, described as a former national security adviser, the report said.

The earlier special counsel team on the Marine case, led by Lee Myung-hyun, indicted 12 key figures, including Yoon, without detention. It granted Lee discretionary immunity and issued a suspension of indictment, citing his cooperation. The special counsel said it will use the new questioning to recheck the decision-making process at the time and how instructions were conveyed.

Separately, Lee is on trial in a case involving allegations that Lee Jong-sup, described as a former defense minister, fled overseas. That case concerns whether the presidential office intervened in the process of appointing him as ambassador to Australia, amid claims he was a central figure in the pressure allegations.

The comprehensive special counsel is also separately reviewing whether the presidential office intervened in the investigation into Ssangbangwool’s alleged remittances to North Korea. The special counsel recently received related materials from the Seoul High Prosecutors Office task force, formed a dedicated team and is examining whether Lee and others influenced the direction of that investigation.

The special counsel said it will analyze the secured materials and conduct witness interviews to determine, step by step, whether there was organized intervention by the presidential office.