South Korea: Special counsel to question ex-NIS chief in Marine death probe

Seoul, July 28 The South Korean former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director, Cho Tae-yong has been summoned to appear for questioning this week over allegations of government interference in an initial probe into the 2023 death of a Marine, a special counsel team said Monday.

The former NIS Director has been asked to appear as a suspect at special counsel Lee Myeong-hyeon's office on Tuesday morning, assistant special counsel Choung Min-young said during a press briefing. Cho faces charges of abuse of power.

"We plan to question him about how the Cpl. Chae investigation results were reported to the president, how the president reacted, what instructions he gave to whom, and how those instructions impacted the investigation results," Choung said.

Cho was one of the senior officials in attendance at a July 31, 2023, meeting where then President Yoon Suk Yeol allegedly flew into a rage upon hearing the preliminary probe results that found a senior Marine commander responsible for the death of Cpl. Chae Su-geun.

Chae died earlier that month while on a mission to search for torrential rain victims, Yonhap news agency reported.

The former NIS director is believed to have been one of two people Yoon kept behind at the meeting before placing a call to then Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup.

He is also suspected of having called the then defence minister days later when the Marine Corps' investigation team sent the preliminary probe results to the police in defiance of orders from superiors not to do so.

The case centers on allegations the investigation results were later changed to clear the initial suspects of responsibility.

The special counsel team raided Cho's home earlier this month and confiscated his cellphone, among other items.

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