Korean media: Before the investigation of the case involved was completed, South Korea’s former defense minister left the country to take up his new post.

　　China News Service, March 11 (Xinhua) According to Yonhap News Agency, on the evening of the 10th local time, former South Korean Defense Minister and Ambassador-designate to Australia Lee Jong-seop, who was under investigation for the death of a Marine Corps soldier during flood control, left for Brisbane to assume his new post.

　　According to reports, Lee Jong-seop was appointed ambassador to Australia on March 4.

In July 2023, Marine Corps soldier Cai died in the line of duty while performing a flood prevention mission.

Lee Jong-seop was accused of abusing his power, allegedly exerting pressure on the relevant military departments to investigate the case, and instructing the Ministry of National Defense Inspection Team to withdraw police investigation records.

Accordingly, the Senior Public Officials Crime Investigation Division (Public Investigation Division) filed the case in January 2024 and took measures to ban the main persons involved in the case from leaving the country, including Lee Jong-seop.

　　According to reports, Lee Jong-seop raised objections to the travel ban measures to the South Korean Ministry of Justice on the 5th, the day after he was appointed ambassador. The Ministry of Justice's Overseas Travel Ban Review Committee held a meeting on the 8th and decided to lift the relevant measures.

　　The Ministry of Justice pointed out that the time limit for leaving the country has been extended many times without the relevant parties conducting necessary investigations. Recently, Lee Jong-seop accepted an investigation from the Public Relations Office and stated that he would actively cooperate with the investigation. In view of this decision, Lee Jong-seop was "released".

　　However, relevant parties criticized that the South Korean government allowed the core persons involved in the case to go abroad, which would have a negative impact on the investigation.

After confirming at Incheon Airport that Lee Jong-seop had completed the procedures for leaving the country, Hong Eui-pyo, the whip of the largest opposition Democratic Party, said that President Yun Seok-hyue gave Lee Jong-seop, a major person involved in the case, a new status of "diplomat" and made him flee.

Hong Yi-pyo also said that he would report to the Public Relations Office that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Justice and others abused their power and obstructed investigations in the appointment of ambassadors and immigration management.