Former Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup has admitted for the first time that he spoke on the phone with former President Yoon Suk Yeol just before giving an order to delay the transfer of files to the civilian police after a military investigation into the 2023 death of a Marine corporal.

In a statement on Monday, the former defense minister said he submitted a written opinion to that effect to the special counsel team on Friday in the ongoing case to determine whether the Yoon administration intervened in the military investigation. 

Lee revealed that Yoon called him around 11:50 a.m. on July 31, 2023.

The call was made immediately after the former president allegedly got angry over the military’s initial findings at a meeting he presided over the same day.

The former minister, however, recalled that Yoon only expressed concern about the findings and gave no specific order to exclude anyone from the files or to suspend their transfer.

The files are reported to have recommended that eight officials be charged with occupational negligence resulting in death, and Lee is alleged to have put the brakes on their transfer after being chastised by Yoon.

Three people who were present at the July 31 meeting, including Kim Tae-hyo, former deputy director at the National Security Office, reportedly acknowledged that Yoon was furious after being briefed on the military’s findings.