秋, said he never made him assistant … “Support Officer 010 – ********” KakaoTalk

The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutor’s Office, which investigated the suspicion of military vacation preference of Mr. Seo Mo, 27, the son of Justice Minister Cho Mi-ae, said on the 28th that he had prosecuted Minister Chu, a former aide , son Seo, and the local unit commander during his service as a KATUSA soldier. Minister Chu leaves the Ministry of Justice in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do this afternoon. [뉴시스]

In June 2017, Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae gave the mobile phone number of the KATUSA soldier support officer, whose 27-year-old son Seo-mo was serving, to an aide at the time. , and it was investigated that he received a report about the extension of Seo’s vacation. In fact, this is contrary to Minister Chu’s clarification that “there was no fact that he instructed the assistant to ask about the extension of his son’s vacation.”

However, the prosecution is being criticized for being a ‘leniency investigation’ by ditching the charges without charge, saying: “There is no legal problem.” Attorney General Yoon Seok-yeol expressed concern at the announcement of the investigation results, but a message came out that the investigation team ignored him.

According to the “ Public Information Report on Suspected Sick Leave of the Minister of Justice’s Son ” announced by the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutor’s Office on June 28, 2017, Mr. Seo requested an investigation to extend sick leave to Choi Mo, an assistant to the then representative of the Democratic Party and a member of the National Assembly. did. Seo, who served as a KATUSA soldier of the US Army’s 8th Army Support Corps of the Republic of Korea, was on sick leave from June 5-14, 2017 for knee surgery. After that, I paid additional sick leave (second round) from 15-23, and took a personal vacation (third) from 24-27. However, suspicion of military service abandonment was raised as they did not return to the unit on the 23rd, while the approval of the third casualty was not confirmed. In particular, the suspicion was amplified as it was revealed that the third license order was issued after the license start date.

June 14 was the end of the first vacation. According to the prosecution, Choi called Captain Kim Mo, who is Mr. Seo’s unit support officer, after receiving contact from Mr. Seo. Captain Kim advised, “It is possible to extend sick leave by filing a statement of opinion,” and the local commander’s aunt lieutenant colonel at the time approved, and sick leave was extended once.

Seo contacted Choi again on the 21st of the same month, two days before the second vacation expired, and asked about the possibility of an additional extension of sick leave. Captain Kim, who was contacted by Mr. Choi, informed him that after internal inquiries, “you can use the regular vacation (not sick leave),” and Seo added 4 regular vacation days (third vacation) from the June 24-27. The prosecution explained that it was used. When Seo asked directly about the third vacation, the unit replied, “There is no additional extension.”

In the process, it was discovered that Minister Chu and Mr. Choi exchanged messages that could be seen as instructions and reports. Minister Chu said from Choi to Kakao Talk on June 14, “We have dealt with Seo’s case. As soon as it was secured, we made arrangements to ship it later. “At 4: 6pm on the 21st, he gave Captain Kim’s mobile phone number to Choi via Kakao Talk, and in a message, clarified that Captain Kim was “ the support officer. ”

Mi-ae Chu, Kakao Talk to the assistant “Senior Jiwon 010 ********”

Chu Miae Content Aide KakaoTalk

Then at 4:32 pm, Mr. Choi was notified, ‘Please contact my son,’ and 5 minutes later, ‘I asked the support officer to extend (sick leave) one more time . It was an exceptional situation, so I decided to contact him after an internal review. ‘ Captain Kim then guided Choi, telling him, “You can use regular leave (not sick leave).”

Minister Chu has repeatedly denied suspicions that he has never had an aide to call the unit. Attending the Special Committee on Budget and Accounting of the National Assembly on the 1st, he said: “What will the assistant do to receive instructions on such private matters?” On the 14th, the government questionnaire read: “I said there was no fact that I told him to (call).”

However, the prosecution was not charged with prosecution against Minister Chu, Seo, Choi and former Lt. Col. Lee. Only Captain Kim and Captain Kwon Mo, who was the support commander at the time, were sent to the Inspection Department of Army Headquarters because they were active military personnel. The prosecution admitted that Seo’s third license was verbally approved by the local commander. As a result of the investigation, the third license was first written into the unit’s operations log as of 26, and the formal license order was written only on July 25, a month later, but the prosecution found that was delayed on the document after receiving oral approval.

Regarding the suspicion that there was no illness in the first place, Mr. Seo admitted that he had actually undergone surgery and presented the appropriate medical certificate to the unit. Regarding Mr. Choi, he said: “It is difficult to consider it as an illegal request because he was informed of the investigations and related procedures to extend sick leave.” It means that it was not a violation of the Unfair Request Prevention Act (Kim Young-ran Act).

Minister Chu also concluded that this was not a violation of the Kim Young-ran Law, as he only received a report on the extension of his son’s vacation from an aide, but did not issue an extension order. However, the content of the Kakao Talk between Minister Chu and Choi is likely to be interpreted as instructions and reports, and the controversy is expected to continue. A reserve lieutenant colonel, who served as KATUSA’s Regional Soldier Commander, was concerned that “if the application ban law is privately cultivated in this way, applications made by the military, hospitals and public institutions will be common. in the future”.

The prosecution also analyzed the 1,800 counseling calls from the Defense Civil Service Consultation Center on the suspicion of the couple’s complaints filed by the Defense Ministry, but said they had not confirmed the details. According to the prosecution, Mr. Seo said: “When my aunt’s supervisor, who was the head of the unit’s support group, pointed out to me, ‘Why are you asking (about the extension of the vacation), why file a complaint with the Ministry of Defense? ‘ It’s the same, ”he said. That day, the announcement of the investigation took place around 3 pm without prior notice. Only the material was distributed and there was no press conference.

After announcing the results of the investigation, Minister Chu said, “I am sorry that I have caused concern to the people due to the unfounded and reckless political offensive against me and my son.” “To avoid a further loss of national power and escape unnecessary political disputes, prosecution reform and public welfare issues, I hope this is an opportunity to focus on this.”

However, Kim Eun-hye, spokesperson for the people’s power, said: “This is an outcome that was predicted from the moment a line of prosecutors tailored to the tastes of the regime was ordered as the Eastern District Prosecutor’s Office. The only way to get closer is to introduce special prosecutors. ”

◆ Watchman “If you don’t apologize for Chumiae, you will sue”Hyeon-mo, a service soldier, who raised the suspicion of returning to Mr. Seo, also said, “I apologize as much as the prosecution admits the relevant facts to the Democratic Party legislator, along with Chu and Hwang-hee, who they dismissed his suspicion as an error and speculation. Otherwise, I will sue for defamation. ”

Reporters Jeong Jin-ho, Kim Min-sang, Kim Sang-jin [email protected]