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Jeon Ik-soo, head of the Air Force's legal office, has been demoted one rank from brigadier general to colonel.

He is suspected of being responsible for the poor initial investigation in the death of the late Sergeant Lee Ye-ram.

It is the first time since the December 12 military rebellion in 1979 that a general has been demoted.



Kim Tae-hoon is a defense reporter.



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Air Force Justice Chief Jeon Ik-soo protested to the military prosecutor when an arrest warrant was requested for a military officer who delivered information about the case to him and the charges of conducting a poor initial investigation that did not immediately investigate the perpetrator of the late Sergeant Lee Ye-ram's case without detention. He is accused of making sexual phone calls.



The Ministry of National Defense held a disciplinary committee on the 18th, apart from the ongoing trial due to the indictment of the special prosecutor, and voted on a disciplinary plan to demote the former chief from brigadier general to colonel.



When President Seok-Yeol Yoon sanctioned it on the 22nd, the former chief was immediately demoted.



The general's demotion is the first since the rebels demoted Army Chief of Staff Jeong Seung-hwa to private during the December 12 military rebellion in 1979.



In 2012, the Board of Audit and Inspection recommended that an army brigadier general belonging to the DAPA be demoted to colonel due to poor development of domestic tanks, but it was not implemented.



The Ministry of National Defense did not comment on the reason for the unusual general demotion, saying that it could be used in the future lawsuit of the former chief.



The bereaved family of this sergeant said through a statement that it was a private return, saying that a reasonable disciplinary action was taken, albeit belatedly.



The former chief's side received a complaint saying that there was no face-to-face investigation by the disciplinary committee while taking a serious disposition, and that the disciplinary action itself was excessive, and it is known that an application for a provisional injunction and an administrative lawsuit will also be filed.



(Video coverage: Han Il-sang, video editing: Kim Jin-won)