The commander of the Marine Corps was questioned for over 14 hours on Saturday in a probe into an alleged influence-peddling case related to the death of a young Marine last year.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) questioned Marine Corps Commandant Lt.-Gen. Kim Gye-hwan from 10 a.m. Saturday on charges of power abuse and obstruction of exercise of a right.

Kim emerged from the CIO building after midnight and left without responding to reporters' questions.

Kim is suspected of being involved in the process of exerting undue influence on Col. Park Jung-hun, the Marine’s former top investigator, who was in charge of the initial probe into the death of Marine Chae Su-geun.

Park has claimed that Kim ordered the case to be scaled down, citing influence from the top office.

Kim allegedly said that President Yoon Suk Yeol was enraged about an initial Marine probe report, which included Lim Seong-geun, former commander of the Marine's First Division, as a suspect, adding that he was instructed to scale down the number of suspects after then Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup talked on the phone with the president.

Kim denied the allegations and testified in a military prosecution probe last year that he never made the remarks during his conversation with Park.