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A person with a group of Marine reservists holds up a sign calling for the government and ruling party to allow a special prosecutor investigation into the death of a Marine. (Kim Hye-yun/The Hankyoreh)

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By Kim Won-chul, society editor

There’s something quite uncanny lying at the heart of this case — in fact, there’s something almost eerie about it. There’s no clear explanation, no shameless excuses, no plausible hypothesis, even though it’s almost been half a year since it happened.
 
The allegations of outside forces pressuring for a coverup of the investigation into the death of a Marine surnamed Chae start with a rumor about President Yoon Suk-yeol bursting into a fit of rage.
 
The rumor goes that when the internal investigators said they planned on turning over the case to the police, saying that they should charge the commander of the 1st Marine Division Lim Seong-geun with occupational negligence resulting in the death of a Marine during a search and rescue operation, Yoon angrily shouted, “Why punish the division commander for a case like this?”
 
As a prosecutor, Yoon Suk-yeol is an expert in actively framing any case that seemed to fall in the gray area between criminal liability and political liability as the criminal responsibility of those in command. Losing his cool over the punishment of a division commander for a “case like this” seems to be off brand for someone like him. 

The fact that he even issued an official presidential statement immediately after Chae’s death saying, “We will thoroughly investigate the cause and prevent this from happening again,” was also unusual. It was only natural for people to start asking what sort of individual Lim was, and what authority he wielded.
 
We are yet to be provided with a clear answer. Lim was neither an important official in Yoon’s administration nor a minister of a major ministry. He does not even have any personal ties with the president.
 
In the absence of an easy and convenient explanation, convoluted explanations have emerged: “a power struggle between the administration’s top officials,” “a special relationship between another influential figure and Lim,” and “the successful campaign conducted to save Lim’s face.” However, the tenuous logic of each of these propositions has prevented any of them from becoming the widely accepted theory of what happened. 
 
The appointment of former Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup as ambassador to Australia is a much more difficult conundrum to wrap one’s head around compared to Yoon’s alleged tantrum.
 
The explanation that it was an unforced error triggered by Yoon’s sense of panic as the investigation into Lee began in earnest came close to being the accepted theory, but it has the crucial flaw of being too shallow. It’s unsatisfying, and leaves us asking if that could really be all it was. 

The timing of the appointment was also strange. Even those in Yoon’s camp were lamenting his decision to send Lee out of the country right before the general election.
 
The appointment of Lee was not something that could not have happened so speedily without a hitch. There would have been someone involved in the presidential office’s diplomatic security lineup or an official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who objected to the appointment.
 

Lee Jong-sup, defense minister at the time, takes part in a plenary session of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee on Dec. 28, 2022. (Yonhap)

The ambassador to Australia is a deputy foreign minister or director-general level position, and as such, appointing someone who has served as defense minister as ambassador to Australia could not have been an intuitive option. The idea of appointing a suspect of an investigation as an envoy to a foreign country is also far outside of diplomatic convention and common sense.
 
Nevertheless, this bizarre decision was executed. Those involved barreled on ahead with the decision despite all the complaints, proving that this wasn’t a random act conducted out of thoughtlessness. The doggedness with which this intangible will prevailed sends chills down my spine.
 
The Democratic Party, which emerged triumphant in the April general elections, is vowing to push through a bill for a special prosecutor’s investigation into Chae’s case in the plenary session of the National Assembly on May 2.
 
The bill was designated as a fast-track bill in October 2023, and after 180 days of deliberation, it came to the plenary session on April 3. It can be brought up and voted on at any time.
 
The full name of the bill is long: “Act to Appoint a Special Prosecutor to Investigate the Truth About the Obstruction of the Investigation of the Death of a Marine Corporal and the Cover-up of the Case.” As the name suggests, the subjects of the investigation are clear. First, the death of Chae. Second, the illegal acts of neglect of duty and abuse of power, including cover-ups, denials, and appeasement, within the presidential office, the Ministry of Defense, the Marine Corps Headquarters, and the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency related to the case. Third, related incidents that became known during the investigation of each allegation.

A special independent prosecutor will examine whether Lee should be charged with obstruction of justice for abuse of power and whether Lim should be charged with manslaughter in the line of duty. They will trace calls made from the presidential office to the military and police and find the originators of those calls.
 
As the special counsel tackles the first agenda, reaches the end of the second, and finally approaches the third, they will face the fundamental questions of this case: What is behind this eerie, at times chilling, determination? Is the state operating as it should? Season 2 of a special prosecutor’s probe into the manipulation of state affairs is due to kick off any minute. 

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]