Colonel Park Jung-hoon, who was dismissed from his position as head of the Marine Corps Investigation Unit after reporting that he would transfer the investigation results, which applied charges of death by negligence to eight people, to the police after investigating the death of Corporal Chae Sang-byeong, who died during a search operation for missing persons in the Yecheon flood in Gyeongbuk in July 2023.
He was later indicted on charges of insubordination and defamation against a superior, but was found not guilty in the first trial.
After more than a year of trial, he was found not guilty by a military court on the 9th of last month.
However, the military prosecution did not accept this and appealed, and the second trial will be held in the Seoul High Court, a civilian court.
Colonel Park, who was dismissed from his position as head of the Marine Corps Investigation Unit in August 2023, has been commuting to and from a building near the Marine Corps Headquarters without a position until now. It is known that the Marine Corps Headquarters is considering assigning him to another position, as it is impossible to reinstate him as the existing head of the investigation unit until a final verdict is reached.
In this regard, on February 20, Kim Sun-ho, Acting Minister of National Defense, attended the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly and said, "In this regard, the Marine Corps Headquarters is currently reviewing (the issue of assigning a position), and will probably make a proposal to the Ministry of National Defense," and "If a proposal comes, we will review it at the Ministry of National Defense level."
The Marine Corps Headquarters also stated at a regular briefing at the Ministry of National Defense that "We are reviewing the issue of adjusting Colonel Park's work location," and it is attracting attention whether Colonel Park Jung-hoon will be able to receive a new position soon.
Meanwhile, Brigadier General Lim Sung-geun, the commander of the 1st Marine Division to which Corporal Chae belonged, is scheduled to retire on February 25 due to the expiration of his term as a policy research officer, and Kim Gye-hwan, the former Marine Corps Commander who was a key figure in the suspicion of external pressure on the investigation of the Corporal Chae case at the time, retired on December 6 of last year.
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