'No illegality whatsoever': Embattled envoy to Australia defends himself

Politics

Published: 27 Mar. 2024, 18:14

'No illegality whatsoever': Embattled envoy to Australia defends himself

Ambassador to Australia Lee Jong-sup answers questions from reporters in Incheon International Airport after his arrival from Canberra, on March 21, 2024. [YONHAP]

Korean Ambassador to Australia Lee Jong-sup said Wednesday that “there was no illegality whatsoever” when he served as defense minister, in reference to accusations that he meddled in the investigations of a young Marine's death.

Lee made the comments to reporters as his lawyer submitted an 11-page report to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) rebutting the allegations against him and calling for a quick and thorough investigation by the CIO.

Lee, who served as President Yoon Suk Yeol’s first defense minister, is accused of allegedly influencing probes into the death of Lance Corporal Chae Su-geun, who died last July while searching for missing people amid heavy rains and flooding that swept Korea at the time. The CIO has been investigating Lee to determine if he tried to block the Marine Corp's initial inquiry into Chae's death by preventing it from being transferred to the police.

He resigned from his position as defense minister in October 2023 before the Democratic Party (DP) could pass a motion to impeach him.

As Lee was still under CIO investigation when he was assigned as ambassador to Australia on March 4, his appointment met backlash from both the public and political sphere. Apart from Lee's controversy, the appointment itself was also unusual. Often, a career diplomat is assigned to serve as ambassador to a key nation — giving the role to a former defense minister is nearly unprecedented.

“The press reported that Lee ordered a change in the list of people to be investigated related to Chae’s death, but this is not true,” Kim Jae-hoon, Lee’s lawyer, told reporters Wednesday. “Furthermore, the Marine Corps’ internal inquiry was not an official investigation by legal authorities. The accusation that Lee interfered in legal proceedings by exerting pressure thus cannot be logically proven. Reporting Lee to the CIO was a political maneuver, and the media reported on his travel ban although Lee himself did not know about it. Being called an absconding criminal was a deep shame for Lee to endure."

The Justice Ministry previously imposed a travel ban on Lee in January but lifted it when Yoon appointed him as ambassador to Australia on March 4.

When Lee left the country on March 10, the DP called him a “fugitive ambassador” and accused the presidential office of “helping a suspect flee.”

Just 11 days after he departed for Australia, Lee returned to Korea last Thursday to attend a meeting on the defense industry cooperation of six diplomatic mission chiefs, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Kim Jae-hoon, ambassador to Australia Lee Jong-sup's lawyer, speaks to reporters at the government complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Six diplomatic mission chiefs including Lee held individual defense meetings with Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul throughout the week since Lee's arrival, the ministry announced Wednesday.

Cho met with Lee last Friday and discussed the status of the defense industry cooperation between Korea and Australia and ways to strengthen defense ties between the two countries, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Lee explained trends in the defense sector and details of the cooperation between Seoul and Canberra, including the Australian purchase of Korean-developed infantry fighting vehicles worth $2.4 billion last year.

Cho in turn said that the cooperation in defense between Korea and Australia should be strengthened through the two-plus-two foreign and defense ministerial council.

Cho also met with Ambassador to Poland Lim Hoon-min, Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Yoo Jeh-seung, and Ambassador to Indonesia Lee Sang-deok from last Friday to Tuesday. Cho will meet with the ambassadors to Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Wednesday.

As it is unusual for the Foreign Ministry to describe defense meetings in a press release, some point out that this might be to emphasize why Lee is visiting Korea, in an attempt to circumvent attention away from his CIO investigation.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]