Defense minister had over dozen calls with predecessor around retrieval of report into Marine’s death

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik held phone talks with his predecessor, Lee Jong-sup, on multiple occasions around the time of the military's controversial retrieval of a preliminary probe report into a Marine's on-duty death from police last year, communication records showed Monday. According to records submitted to a military court, Shin, who was the ranking ruling party member at the National Assembly's defense committee, had phone conversations with Lee on 13 occasions between Aug. 1 and 8. In contrast to such findings, Shin, a former three-star Army general, said last August that he hadn't had a single phone conversation with Lee in connection with the retrieval of the report, submitted by Marine Col. Park Jung-hun to the police. The retrieval of the case from police took place on Aug. 2 under unclear circumstances. The revelation came as the anti-corruption investigation office is conducting an inquiry into allegations that the presidential office and the defense ministry, then headed by Lee, inappro priately interfered in the investigation into the Marine's death. After Cpl. Chae Su-geun was swept away and killed during a risky search mission for victims of heavy downpours in the central county of Yecheon in July last year, the Marine Corps launched an internal investigation. Park, former chief investigator of the Marines, drew up a report accusing a Marine division commander and seven other military officials of professional negligence resulting in Chae's death and then submitted the report to the police. The report was, however, immediately retrieved from the police by the defense ministry, while Park was dismissed as chief Marine investigator and was placed under a military investigation for alleged disobedience. In October, Park was indicted on charges of insubordination and defamation of his superior over his actions and currently remains under trial. Source: Yonhap News Agency