"Tell civic groups and China their plans to delay THAAD deployment"...Request for investigation of 4 people including Jeong Eui-yong

[Anchor]
The Board of Audit and Inspection reportedly detected the leak of South Korea-U.S. military operation plans to civic groups and China ahead of the deployment of THAAD, a high-altitude missile defense system during the Moon Jae In administration.

The Board of Audit and Inspection asked the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to investigate four people, including former National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong, at the end of last month.

I'm reporter Lee Jong-gu.

[Reporter]
May 29, 2020 Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province.

Residents and civic group officials fiercely protest when replacement missiles and electronic equipment enter the THAAD base of the U.S. Forces Korea.

The civic group told the media that it had no prior knowledge at the time.

[Kang Hyun-wook / Spokesperson for THAAD withdrawal general situation room: There was a little mention before that, but this time, there was no perfect comment at all. We didn't know until the police came in.

However, the current government auditor's judgment was different.

At that time, an official from the Moon Jae In government informed civic groups of the importation in advance to slow the deployment of THAAD.

The Board of Audit and Inspection also suspects that a high-ranking official informed the Chinese embassy in Korea of the name, date and time of the THAAD missile replacement operation ahead of President Moon Jae In's visit to China in December 2019.

These preliminary explanations have been made several times, and the Board of Audit and Inspection has reportedly concluded that this includes a number of class 2 military secrets.

According to the results of the public interest audit, which began in July last year at the request of a group of former military generals, the Board of Audit and Inspection requested the prosecution to investigate four people, including Chung Eui-yong, former chief of the Moon Jae In government's National Security Office, Seo Joo-seok, former Defense Minister Chung Kyung-doo, and Lee Ki-hun, former presidential secretary for civic participation.

The charges are violations of the Military Confidential Protection Act and abuse of authority.

The prosecution plans to launch a full-fledged investigation as soon as the data review is completed.

I'm YTN Lee Jong-gu.



Video editing: Kim Jiyeon