The 2nd Independent Counsel team announced today (August 13) that it has indicted without detention former Presidential Secretary for Public Discipline Lee Si-won and former National Security Office Defense Secretary Lim Gi-huk on charges of leaking investigation details regarding the "Marine Cpl. Chae incident."

Lee is accused of receiving a report in September 2023 that the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency planned to conduct a seizure and search operation regarding the death of the late Marine Cpl. Chae, and tipping off the Marine Corps in advance.

The independent counsel team believes that Lee leaked the search warrant plan—which he received from an official at the National Office of Investigation—to Lim, who in turn leaked it to a Ministry of National Defense official, ultimately passing the information to the Marine Corps.

The independent counsel team also indicted without detention former Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency Chief Choi Ju-won and Roh Gyu-ho, head of the Police Investigation Academy who previously served as the head of the investigation division at the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency, on charges of abuse of authority.

They are accused of ordering the return of the case records concerning Cpl. Chae—which had been transferred to the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency—back to the Ministry of National Defense Prosecutors' Office.

The indictment states that they abused their authority to obstruct investigators from exercising their rights, despite knowing that returning the records at the time was illegal and improper.

The independent counsel team stated, "Through this investigation, we have verified the circumstances under which the case records were retrieved by the Ministry of National Defense Prosecutors' Office following their transfer to the police, as well as the process by which information regarding the seizure and search of the Marine Corps was leaked in advance," adding, "We will do our utmost to prove the charges in the upcoming trial proceedings."

(Photo: Yonhap News)