hankyoreh

President Yoon Suk-yeol enters the reception room after conferring Cho Ji-ho with his certificate of appointment as police commissioner general on Aug. 12, 2024, at the presidential office in Yongsan. (Yonhap)

Amid its ongoing investigation into alleged government interference in a military investigation of the death of a Marine, it was revealed on Monday that the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Individuals (CIO) has obtained a portion of the phone records of President Yoon Suk-yeol.

The Hankyoreh’s investigative reporting revealed that the CIO had requested a warrant to access Yoon’s phone records, which was recently granted. The CIO had requested such warrants several times before, but the courts had rejected them all. A court granted the most recent request because the CIO narrowed the timeframe, requesting phone records pertaining to a small window of specific dates in relation to the case involving the death of the Marine.

On Aug. 2 of last year, Marine investigators recommended charges of professional negligence against Lim Seong-geun, the former commander of the 1st Marines Division involved in the young Marine’s death, and relayed their case to the police. On the same day, Yoon used his personal mobile phone — the same one he used during his days as a prosecutor — to call then-Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup. Yoon made several calls to Lee on this day. 

Later that day, prosecutors within the Ministry of Defense recalled the documents relayed by Marine investigators to the police and booked Col. Park Jeong-hun, the lead investigator, for insubordination. 

The facts point to suspicions that the president himself had ordered the recall the investigative documents to prevent them from falling into the hands of the police and the apprehending of Park. 

Phone records have also indicated that Lee Jong-ho, the former CEO of Black Pearl Invest convicted of stock manipulation with regard to Deutsch Motors shares — a case in which first lady Kim Keon-hee is also implicated — stepped in to get Lim off the hook. 

Lee’s phone conversations further implicate the president’s direct involvement. The Hankyoreh has previously reported on a recording of a phone call in August of last year between Lee and attorney and whistleblower Kim Kyu-hyun, during which Lee said he would speak to the “VIP” and argue to get Lim untangled from the case. 

The CIO has obtained testimony that Lee habitually refers to the president as “V1” and to the first lady as “V2,” suggesting that Lee is close to Yoon and Kim Keon-hee. 

The audio files implicating Lee seemed to further convince the courts of the necessity of attaining Yoon’s phone records. There is also the consideration that the telecommunications company, in accordance with internal protocol, is likely to delete the phone records after a year to clear their databases. The phone records obtained by the CIO only pertain to a narrow time window, however, 

After analyzing Yoon’s phone conversations, the CIO is expected to continue its investigation into state interference related to the death of the Marine corporal. 

By Jeong Hye-min, staff reporter

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