Suspects face charges of aiding insurrection and abuse of authority
By Choi Eui-jong, The Herald Business
The second comprehensive special prosecutor team led by Special Prosecutor Kwon Chang-young, which is investigating allegations left unresolved after three earlier special prosecutor probes, has sought arrest warrants for former Korea Coast Guard chief Kim Jong-wook and former coast guard planning and coordination official Ahn Seong-sik over their alleged involvement in the Dec. 3, 2024, emergency martial law declaration.
The special prosecutor team said Tuesday it had applied for the warrants on charges of aiding insurrection and abuse of authority obstructing the exercise of rights against the two former officials.
The earlier insurrection special prosecutor team led by Special Prosecutor Jo Eun-seok had investigated Ahn, a classmate of former President Yoon Suk Yeol at Chungam High School, but declined to indict him, saying it could not confirm whether he had participated in prior planning of the insurrection. The current team subsequently conducted additional investigations into the coast guard's role in the martial law episode and booked several individuals.
The team suspects that Ahn, shortly after emergency martial law was declared and ahead of a nationwide commanders' video conference, urged senior colleagues to consider carrying firearms in preparation for a state of emergency and to dispatch investigative personnel to the martial law command.
The team questioned Ahn as a suspect on June 1, former coast guard security division chief Lee Cheol-woo — who faces charges of abuse of authority obstructing the exercise of rights — on June 9, and Kim on June 10.
bell@heraldcorp.com
