The prosecution after investigating the suspicion of extending the vacation of the son of Justice Minister Cho Mi-ae, 27-year-old Seo Mo, has imposed charges against key related parties such as Chu and Seo.
The Seoul East District Prosecutor's Office announced on the 28th that it had unaccomplished charges against Minister Chu, his son Seo, his former National Assembly adviser A, and the then-area commander B, who belonged to Seo.
The prosecution said, "It is difficult to see that there was hierarchy or external pressure in the process of requesting and using leave such as sick leave, which was suspicious as a result of the investigation," and said, "(Seo's) failure to return to the unit is also due to the approval of the leave, so leaving the military service is not recognized." .
The prosecution sent the case to the prosecution department of the Army Headquarters on the grounds that the unit support officer C and the support commander D were active soldiers.
In 2017, Seo served as a KATUSA Soldier of the US 2nd Division Area Unit of the 8th US Army, ROK Military Support Group in Korea, and spent a total of 23 days in succession of 1st and 2nd sick leave and personal vacation.
Among these, the prosecution said, "The statement of the relevant people, Mr. Seo's medical records, and the leave records recorded in the integrated administrative affairs system, etc., were synthesized, and the approval of Mr. Sick leave was legal and according to the procedure. I believe it has been processed."
However, in the process of taking the second sick leave and personal vacation, there is a fact that the assistant Aide at the request of Mr. Seo and inquired about the requirements for extending sick leave, and the regional commander of the unit at that time received a status report and approved the vacation. I figured it out.
The prosecution said that the phone call from the assistant inquiring about the extension of the vacation was "inquired about the extension of sick leave and was informed of the principle procedure for it," and "it is difficult to say that it falls under the'unlawful solicitation' under the Solicitation Prohibition Act."
The prosecution said, "There is no clear context in which the Minister of Justice was directly involved in the solicitation. It is judged that there is no fact that the Minister and Mrs. Chu filed a complaint directly to the Ministry of Defense."
(Photo = Yonhap News)