"I even found decisive evidence and crime tools..." Suspicious death of Yeom Soon-deok's boss, who has remained unsolved for 23 years.

■ Broadcasting: FM 94.5 (06:40~06:55, 12:40~12:55, 19:40~19:55)
■ Broadcast Date: November 8, 2024 (Fri)
■ Host: Lawyer Lee Won-hwa
■ Dialogue: Attorney Kim Deok-jin

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.

◆ Lawyer Lee Won-hwa (hereinafter referred to as Lee Won-hwa): Sergeant Yeom Soon-deok of the Republic of Korea Army has died. Since his status was his status, both the military and the police were dispatched to the scene of the incident. However, the cause of death determined by the military and police was different. The military assumed that the accident was caused by a hit-and-run vehicle, and the police assumed that it was not a simple traffic accident but a homicide. Meanwhile, two cigarette butts were found at the scene. Did you really find any clues in this cigarette butt? That's right. There was an alibi for the two soldiers who were mentioned as prime suspects. So this case seemed to end up as a long-term mystery. However, after more than 15 years, suspicions were raised that the alibi was fabricated at the time. What the hell happened in this case? Incident X file starts right now. Hello, I'm Lee Won-hwa, the case X file of lawyer Lee Won-hwa. Today, we are also with lawyer Kim Deok-jin of Law Firm Roel. Welcome, lawyer.

◇ Lawyer Kim Deok-jin (hereinafter referred to as Kim Deok-jin): Yes, hello. I'm lawyer Kim Deok-jin of LOEL Law Firm.

◆ Dualization: I hope our listeners will listen to this show until the end of the day. It's a really absurd and upsetting incident. I think we should go back to the time of the incident, but there was a case where a soldier was found dead.

◇ Kim Deok-jin: In December 2001, Army Sergeant Yeom Soon-deok of the Korean Army's Water Mechanized Infantry Division was killed by a gunman on his way home from a dinner with military officials in the village of Hyeon-ri, Ha-myeon, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do.

◆ Dualization: When an accident happens to a soldier, not a civilian, the police are dispatched, but eventually the military takes over the case.

◇ Kim Deok-jin: Yes. Currently, the Military Court Act has been revised to deal with deaths in the military in the private sector, but at that time, cases involving soldiers have been resolved by the military. In this case, a witness found the body and reported it to the police, but the first to arrive after receiving the report was the military police, and the police later arrived. The military determined that the sergeant Yeom seemed to have died after hitting his head in the side mirror of the hit-and-run vehicle.

◆ Is it a hit-and-run? Was there any reason to judge it as a hit-and-run?

◇ Kim Deok-jin: Yes, but the police judged it differently. Because there were no wounds on the body other than the head, so it was suspicious to call it a hit-and-run.

◆ Binaryization: That's right. If a person is an adult male, but only the head is hurt, it seems unlikely that such a wound will remain unless a very high car hits him. It's something I don't really understand, but in the end, who was right?

◇ Kim Deok-jin: Yes, the police are right. During the police investigation, a club of jujube trees with blood was found in Gaecheon, and the club's scar coincided with the scalp cut of Master Yeom Soon-deok. And two cigarette butts were found at the bedside of the deceased boss Yeom Soon-deok, and the police requested them to the National Forensic Service, and the key was whether there would be any clues to solve the case.

◆ [Dualization] I think it's a very important point. What was the result?

◇ Kim Deok-jin: At that time, the DNA of two sergeant Hong Joon-we, who drank with Sergeant Yeom, was detected. Before the drinking party, Yeom Sang-sa and Hong Joon-wi had trouble. One of the major conflicts came from Yeom Sang-sa's discovery that the Hong Joon-wi had seized military fuel. A double sergeant from the Defense Security Command was involved in the capture of the Hong Joon-wi.

◆ Lee Won-hwa: Hong Joon-wi and Lee Jung-sa committed embezzlement in a way, and it was the victim's ambassador who found out. DNA came out, and it was discovered that there was a conflict, and in a way, I think the motive for the murder came out. You look like a prime suspect, have you been arrested right away?

◇ Kim Deok-jin: No, it's not. They had an alibi at the time.

◆ Dualization: Alibi. That's right. In Korean, it's called proof of absence from the field.

◇ [Kim Deok-jin] Yes, that's right. They made a statement that they played billiards at the billiard room after drinking, and Lee, a civilian working in the military at the time, supported this statement. And at that time, the DNA of Lieutenant Hong and Lieutenant Lee was found in the cigarette butts, and since both the victim and the suspect were soldiers, all the investigation rights were transferred to the military. Eventually, I couldn't find a clue and remained unsolved.

◆ Dualization: Alibi by the reference person's statement alone. I don't understand that this alone rejected all other objective evidence. Even if there was an alibi, then why is the cigarette butt with the DNA of the two at the scene of the incident so coincidental? I wonder why this was found there.

◇ Kim Deok-jin: That's right. I don't understand it in common sense. At the time, the military claimed that the police picked up what was in the room salon and made it up. Then, after nearly 15 years, there was decisive evidence to overturn the case.

◆ [Dualization] What was it?

◇ Kim Deok-jin: Let me tell you first, the so-called Taewan method. The Criminal Procedure Act was revised, but the statute of limitations was not applied to murder, and the statute of limitations was applied retroactively to crimes that were not completed at the time. If this case is classified as a murder case, it is possible to reinvestigate it.

◆ Dualization: Tae-wan played a decisive role. That's right.

◇ Kim Deok-jin: But I told you earlier that their alibi played billiards on the day of the incident.

◆ Binaryization: That's right.

◇ Kim Deok-jin: He said he played billiards, but the police questioned that he didn't receive a statement from the owner of the billiard room. As a result of calling the billiard room owner to investigate, the billiard room owner stated that four people came in and two went out. In the end, it was found that the chairman of the military delivery company lied. The police called the chairman and re-investigated him, and he said, "Four people actually played billiards, but I don't know until the time when two people went out in the middle, but when I looked back, I remember seeing him go out to emergency stairs or something.

◆ Binaryization: Actually this is. It's been 15 years since I got a statement again. Then, it would be difficult to remember the situation at that time 15 years ago, but if you remember that it went out in the middle, I wonder if you knew something or if you were already suspicious at that time.

◇ Kim Deok-jin: That's right. And the chairman also stated that he remembered that the Defense Security Command and I played billiards together. In addition, it was also revealed that the commander of the Defense Security Command asked the chairman of the military delivery company to tell him that four people played billiards. Thus, Sergeant Hong Joon-wi and Sergeant Lee's alibi, who drank with Master Yeom at the time, was completely overturned.

◆ Lee Won-hwa: In fact, if you're the president of a military supplier, you're a stakeholder because you're a person who pays goods to the military and makes some money from it. The group could have fully understood that his statement was not reliable, but the investigation into that part revealed that further investigation was insufficient. As expected, the alibi was a lie.

◇ [Kim Deok-jin] Yes, that's right. Thus, the police re-investigated Lieutenant Hong and Sergeant Lee. The double sergeant, who was identified as the main culprit for wielding the blunt weapon himself, was also active in 2018, and was under investigation for prostitution and other charges. Therefore, if they were punished for prostitution, they were likely to become civilians. The police were in a state where there was a high possibility of a full-fledged investigation. However, during the investigation, Sergeant Lee was found dead leaving a long suicide note.

◆ Lee Won-hwa: You also told me that a long will was found, but is there anything disclosed about it? I'm asking if there was any clue that the case could be solved.

◇ Kim Deok-jin: There was nothing clearly reported in the media. However, the case seemed to be resolved when two alibis were broken, but problems arose when the suspect died. This is because the investigation authorities saw Sergeant Lee as the main culprit who killed Master Yeom by swinging his club directly. Therefore, the key was whether the other one could be considered the main culprit.

◆ Lee Won-hwa: If two people committed the crime and one of them died, the remaining person would have used such a strategy as passing the crime on a person who has already died or putting the case in the dark by exercising the right to remain silent. They didn't confess anyway, but B, who was a non-commissioned officer, is not the main culprit. I don't think we're in a situation where we're sure of this. I think there was room for a fight.

◇ Kim Deok-jin: To continue to explain why this is the key, it is because there is a difference between the criminal and the main culprit in relation to the exclusion of the statute of limitations in the murder case. Here, an accessory refers to a person who has assisted other people's crimes. The revised Criminal Procedure Act does not apply the exclusion of the statute of limitations to criminal offenses in crimes that kill people. In other words, the statute of limitations applies to those who assisted in the murder case. At that time, it was questioned whether it could be considered the main culprit because he was drunk and had no memory at all, but the police decided that Hong could be considered the main culprit of the case based on the suspicion that Sergeant Lee and Hong had prepared tools for the crime together, and that they had long had bad feelings and had fights right before. However, after much consideration, the prosecution dismissed the charges, saying there was a lack of evidence to admit the suspect.

◆ Binaryization: Actually, there's evidence and crime tools. DNA came out of the cigarette butts, and the statement alibi was overturned, and I think it's all over. I think there must have been some crime tools found at the time. How was it?

◇ Kim Deok-jin: There was a newly revealed statement from the owner of the billiard room and a cigarette butt, but there was a regret. The jujube tree club, which is the crime tool mentioned above, was lost while storing it in a warehouse in the military police station.

◆ Binaryization: Does that make sense? I wonder if it's really lost.

◇ Kim Deok-jin: That's right. Considering the fact that the deceased Sergeant Yeom witnessed corruption related to military fuel, that the soldier was trying to wrap up the case quickly, and that the DSC chief asked the chairman of the military delivery company to tell him that four people played billiards.

◆ Binaryization: So this eventually has no choice but to remain permanently unsolved? Or can the results be different if there is any other evidence?

◇ Kim Deok-jin: It's usually because there's no evidence of a long-term unsolved case. If additional key evidence is found, the results may vary.

◆ Dualization: You're saying that if there's such conclusive evidence that the remaining person is the main culprit, not the accessory, or something like that, it can be overturned, right?

◇ Kim Deok-jin: That's right. Since the military covered up the case, I think that if additional statements from military officials are found, the investigation will be able to proceed by providing another clue to solving the case. Meanwhile, a national compensation ruling was recently issued. Yeom's bereaved family filed a state compensation suit in September 2018, claiming that even though the deceased was killed, the poor investigation failed to identify the true nature of the case and delayed the recognition of those eligible for insurance compensation, and the court ruled that the state should pay 90 million won to the bereaved family.

◆ Lee Won-hwa: I'm glad that this ruling came out, but from the perspective of the bereaved family, I don't think the heartache has still been resolved.

◇ [Kim Deok-jin] Yes, that's right. I hope the truth of the case will be thoroughly investigated and the injustice of the bereaved family will be completely resolved.

◆ DUALIZATION: X-Files of Events That's all we've prepared for today. You all deserve to be defended. Incident X file, thank you everyone.