The CIO must get to the bottom of suspicions

The motion to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the suspicious death of a Marine on a rescue mission and the presidential office’s alleged exercise of influence in the Marine Corps’ own probe of the case was voted down again in the National Assembly on Tuesday. The ball is now in the court of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which has been looking into the case.

The Democratic Party (DP)’s relentless push for the special investigation of the case was politically motivated from the start. Public suspicions were fueled by the CIO’s ban on former Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup from leaving the country in March. The majority party bypassed the CIO and pressed ahead with a special investigation. But it was the DP that passed a bill to establish the extra law enforcement agency by taking advantage of its majority power.

Nevertheless, the expression of open support for the special investigation by several lawmakers of the governing People Power Party (PPP) shows their strong disappointment about the mysterious handling of the case by the government and the party, as implied by a series of suspicious steps they took after President Yoon Suk Yeol presided over a meeting on July 31 last year. The scheduled briefing by the Marine Corps’ own investigation team was cancelled, followed by the Defense Ministry’s dubious retrieval of the investigation results the Marine Corps’ investigation team handed over to the police. In the process, the Marine Corps commander, the defense minister and the presidential office had telephone conversations several times. The CIO must find out if they committed any possible illegalities during the conversations.

The CIO has obtained evidence of “presidential rage” over the Marine Corps’ investigation results. The CIO reportedly obtained audio files showing the rage from the president. The CIO now faces an uphill battle to find the truth. After it attempted to cross-question the commander and the investigation chief of the Marine Corps, the commander refused, citing “a bigger injury to the Marine Corps.” Appearing on television, a senior PPP lawmaker seriously wondered if the president’s rage was really a crime. The CIO must get to the bottom of the case.

If the CIO’s investigation results fall short of expectations, a special investigation will be unavoidable. A poll shows that up to 70 percent of people support it. If another motion is proposed in the upcoming National Assembly, the PPP can hardly vote it down. The CIO has grabbed a chance to prove its raison d’etre after showing incompetence over the past three years. The presidential office and the military must help with the CIO’s investigation.