‘Charges dropped’ only communicated seven times on July 31, 2023,
President Yoon Suk-yeol, former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seob. Yonhap News Photo,
, ‘The presidential office’s phone number ’02-800-7070′ was revealed to have been used in conversations with Cho Tae-yong, head of the National Security Office, and Joo Jin-woo, legal secretary of the presidential office, just before the decision to drop the charges in the Corporal Cha case. This number was used in a conversation with former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seob just before the decision to drop the charges on July 31 last year.’,
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, ‘According to the communication records of the number ’02-800-7070′ obtained by Hankyoreh on the 18th, there were a total of seven calls made using this number between July 28 and August 9 last year. All seven calls were concentrated on July 31, the day before the former minister ordered to drop the charges and cancel the press briefing. There were no call records on other days.’,
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, ‘At 11:09 a.m. that day, the number was connected to Director Cho Tae-yong for about 31 seconds. Then, at 11:43 a.m., there was a call lasting about 44 seconds to Legal Secretary Joo Jin-woo. About 10 minutes after the call with the secretary, a call was made to former Minister Lee Jong-seob using this number for about 2 minutes and 48 seconds.’,
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, ‘Immediately after this call, the former minister instructed General Kim Gye-hwan, who serves as his chief of staff at the Ministry of National Defense, via the phone of his military aide, Park Jin-hee, to “halt the police referral of Corporal Cha’s case and cancel the scheduled press briefing for the afternoon.” This call was singled out as the path that delivered the “President’s fury.” The caller of this number has not been confirmed. KT Telecom stated the customer of ’02-800-7070’ is the ‘Presidential Security Office’ the day before.’,
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, ‘Joo Jin-woo, a member of the opposition party People Power Party, told Hankyoreh, “I did not communicate with anyone in relation to this case, nor did I have any involvement in it.” He also mentioned, “I do not remember who I talked to or what was said during the call a year ago.”‘,
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