Ex-Marine investigator to be reinstated after acquittal of insubordination charges

Park Jung-hun, a former Marine Corps chief investigator, shakes hands with his supporters before attending a hearing at the Seoul High Court, June 13. Yonhap

The Marine Corps said Thursday it will reinstate a former Marine investigator who led a probe into the 2023 death of a young conscript, as he was acquitted of insubordination charges related to the case.

Former Col. Park Jung-hun will be reinstated Friday, the Marine Corps said in a notice to the press, after he was dismissed from the post in August 2023 in a probe related to the death of Cpl. Chae Su-geun.

The reinstatement comes as a special prosecutor looking into the death decided Wednesday not to pursue an appeal against a court ruling that found Park innocent of charges that he disobeyed an order when ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol was in office.

Park was initially accused of the insubordination charges following an internal probe he led into the death of the corporal who was swept away and killed by a torrent during a search for missing flood victims in July 2023.

A district court had earlier found Park innocent of charges that he went ahead and referred his initial findings to police despite an order from higher-ups that he hold the planned police referral of the findings.

Special Prosecutor Lee Myeong-hyeon decided to drop the appeal against him, saying the indictment constituted an "abuse of prosecutorial power" and Park's transfer of the case records to police was a "lawful act."