The second comprehensive special counsel team led by Special Prosecutor Kwon Chang-young, which is investigating allegations left unresolved after three earlier special counsel probes into insurrection, Kim Keon Hee and the Marine Corps corporal case, said it will analyze the court's reasoning before deciding whether to refile arrest warrants for Korea Coast Guard officials suspected of involvement in the Dec. 3, 2024, emergency martial law declaration.
At a briefing Monday afternoon at its office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, the special counsel team said it is reviewing whether to refile arrest warrants for former Coast Guard Commissioner Kim Jong-wook and former Coast Guard Planning and Coordination Director An Seong-sik. A court rejected the warrants Friday on charges of aiding and abetting insurrection and obstruction of the exercise of rights through abuse of authority.
The team had sought the warrants Wednesday, alleging that Kim and An had systematically mobilized the Coast Guard immediately after the martial law declaration. The earlier insurrection special counsel team, led by Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok, had investigated An but cleared him without indictment.
Judge Lee Jong-rok of the Seoul Central District Court, who handles insurrection-related warrant reviews, rejected the warrants Friday, saying "there is room for dispute over the criminal charges, and it is difficult to conclude there is a risk of evidence destruction or flight given the progress of the investigation."
Deputy Special Prosecutor Kim Ji-mi said the court rejected the warrants on the grounds that "there is room for dispute over whether the actions exceeded the normal scope permitted under existing manuals during the martial law situation." She added that the ruling "could be interpreted as saying that following existing manuals during martial law is acceptable," and that the team plans to analyze the rejection before deciding whether to refile.
The special counsel team has also booked former Capital Defense Command 1st Security Brigade commander Cho Seong-hyeon on charges of performing an important role in insurrection. The earlier insurrection special counsel team had investigated Cho but cleared him without indictment, a divergence that observers say reflects a growing gap between the two teams' positions.
The team recently questioned witnesses in connection with Cho. Kim said investigators "secured important testimony in witness interviews that helps establish Cho's culpability," describing it as a statement that "there was an order to enter the National Assembly."
The team also said Monday it has found evidence that the National Intelligence Service actively supported the martial law declaration. The NIS security investigation unit — which had handled counterintelligence before losing that authority — prepared to dispatch liaison officers or investigators to the martial law command's joint investigation headquarters during the martial law period.
Kim said the team confirmed that "two mid-level officials were selected to be dispatched as liaison officers to the martial law command at the request of the personnel division under the chief of planning and coordination," and that the NIS "prepared a report to be submitted to the presidential office after positively reviewing whether it could exercise counterintelligence authority through an emergency order from former President Yoon Suk Yeol."
The team also said the NIS had prepared a list of hundreds of individuals deemed security threats in anticipation of a request from the martial law command, though it did not disclose the specific contents of the list.
The special counsel team is investigating former Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office chief Lee Chang-su and former Anti-Corruption Investigation Unit 2 chief Choi Jae-hun over allegations that they suppressed the investigation into the Deutsch Motors share price manipulation case involving first lady Kim Keon Hee. The team is set to question former presidential personnel secretary Lee Won-mo on Tuesday over the same allegations.
The team also said Monday it has found indications that investigative records from the Deutsch Motors share price manipulation case were not properly preserved, and has requested that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office provide the relevant materials.
bell@heraldcorp.com
