Military prosecutors have requested a pretrial detention warrant for Col. Park Jung-hun who had headed the Marine Corps' investigation unit that probed last month's death of a Marine during monsoon rescue operations.

The defense ministry said prosecutors made the request to the ministry’s general military court on Wednesday given the severity of the case and concerns that Park may destroy evidence. 

The prosecutors said Park has repeatedly refused to undergo questioning after being booked on charges of "insubordination" related to an internal probe into the death of Lance Corporal Chae Su-geun. 

After leading the probe into Chae’s death that determined that professional negligence by a division commander resulted in the fatality, Park turned the results over to the police despite an order to hold off, resulting in the insubordination charge.

The colonel has rejected a summons for questioning by military prosecutors and instead called for a review on the fairness of the probe.