Former Defense Minister Lee Jong-seob attending the trial of former Marine Corps Colonel Park Jeong-hun
(SEOUL=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Ji-heon = Former Defense Minister Lee Jong-seob reiterated his position that there was no external pressure regarding the case of private first class Choi, who was killed in action, on the 3rd.
Former Minister Lee attended the 7th trial of Colonel Park Jeong-hun, former head of the Marine Corps investigation unit, at the Central District Military Court in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the same day, stating, “I have already answered multiple times at the National Assembly and made it clear that there was absolutely no external pressure from the President in this regard.”
He added, “The essence of today’s trial is refusing legal referral instructions from a superior and publicly spreading false information damaging the honor of the superior.”
Former Minister Lee expressed his condolences once again to the late private and apologized to the bereaved families, saying, “In the process of fulfilling the sacred duty of national defense, private first class Choi nobly sacrificed himself, and I offer my condolences once again to the family.”
jk@yna.co.kr