(LEAD) Former defense chief named as witness for influence-peddling case over Marine's death

(ATTN: CHANGES headline, lead; UPDATES throughout with hearing details; ADDS photo)

SEOUL, May 17 (Yonhap) -- Former Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup was designated as a witness Friday for trials concerning an ex-Marine investigator's alleged insubordination over a probe he had led into a young Marine's death.

Lee stepped down from his ministerial post in October 2023 amid allegations that he improperly influenced a probe into the death of the Marine. In March, he was appointed as the South Korean ambassador to Australia, but he resigned in less than a month as the controversial appointment fueled negative public sentiment ahead of the April 10 parliamentary elections.

The court martial in central Seoul accepted the request from Col. Park Jung-hun's defense attorneys during the fourth hearing on his alleged insubordination over the probe into Cpl. Chae Su-geun's death last July during a search mission for downpour victims.

Last October, military prosecutors indicted Park for allegedly handing over the probe results to the civilian police despite orders from Lee and the Marine Corps' top commander to wait for more legal deliberations.

The court designated Lee as a witness, citing his involvement in Marine Corps Commandant Lt. Gen. Kim Kye-hwan's order to Park to hold off on the handover.

"The defense's request for a witness is accepted as it could serve as the basis for determining whether the given order was justifiable," the court said.

Lee is also a subject of an investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) after the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) filed a complaint against him and an unspecified presidential official for allegedly exerting undue influence in the military's probe into Chae's death.

The DP has separately pushed for a special counsel investigation into allegations that the presidential office and the defense ministry interfered in the military investigation, with the opposition-controlled National Assembly passing a bill mandating the special counsel probe on May 2.

In a press conference last week, President Yoon Suk Yeol voiced reservations about a new probe, saying if the ongoing investigation by the police and the CIO is insufficient, he "will be the first to call for a special counsel probe."

The remarks have raised speculation over whether he could veto the bill, prompting Park's lawyer to call on Yoon to accept the special counsel probe before attending the hearing.

"We have always called for a special counsel probe from the start," Kim Jeong-min told reporters in a press conference. "Rejecting the special probe and resolving this problem through the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials is ... a delusion."

Lee Jun-seok, the head of the minor opposition New Reform Party who also attended the press conference, told reporters Yoon appears to be greatly misjudging the political situation, apparently referring to the possibility of him exercising his veto power.

yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
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