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 into insurrection, first lady Kim Keon Hee, and the Marine Corps death case — has opened a case against a corps commander who served under the Ground Operations Command during the Dec. 3, 2024, emergency martial law, on suspicion that he prepared to deploy troops even after the National Assembly voted to lift the martial law order.
The special prosecutor team booked Corps Commander A, who led a Ground Operations Command (GOC) subordinate unit during the martial law period, on Thursday on charges of aiding and abetting insurrection. Unlike the charge of performing a key role in insurrection, the aiding-and-abetting charge applies to those who did not lead the plot but passively supported or participated in it.
Commander A is suspected of preparing to deploy troops even after the National Assembly passed a resolution demanding the lifting of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration. The team appears to be concentrating its investigative resources on the GOC's alleged involvement in the martial law plot, alongside former GOC commander Kang Ho-pil, who has already been booked on charges of performing a key role in insurrection.
The team believes Kang participated in discussions related to the martial law declaration before it was proclaimed. Notes found on the mobile phone of former Defense Counterintelligence Command chief Yeo In-hyeong reportedly contain the abbreviation "ㅈㅌㅅㅂ" — referring to the GOC commander, Special Warfare Command chief Kwak Jong-geun, Capital Defense Command chief Lee Jin-woo, and Counterintelligence Command chief Yeo In-hyeong — along with a notation reading "this is the shared opinion of ㅈㅌㅅㅂ."
Former commanders Kwak, Lee and Yeo — all except Kang — have been indicted on charges of performing a key role in insurrection and are currently standing trial. The team suspects Kang was involved in setting up a situation room inside the GOC after the martial law declaration was issued, and that he ordered the activation of a crisis response unit and the mobilization of all command officers.
The team sought an arrest warrant for Kang on July 10. Seoul Central District Court Judge Lee Jong-rok, who oversees insurrection-related warrant reviews, rejected it on July 13, 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." The team is expected to indict Kang without detention in early August.
Before turning its focus to the GOC, the team had already investigated the Joint Chiefs of Staff's alleged involvement in the insurrection and referred key figures to trial. The JCS case was also the first self-initiated investigation the team opened. Former JCS Chairman Kim Myung-su was indicted without detention on charges of performing a key role in insurrection, while former Vice Chairman Jeong Jin-pal, former combat readiness inspection vice chief Lee Jae-sik and former Army headquarters policy chief Kim Heung-jun were indicted in custody.
Meanwhile, the team confirmed Thursday that it had received official notification from the presidential office approving an extension of its investigation period. Since launching in February, the team had already extended its initial 90-day mandate twice, by 30 days each time. It subsequently called on the National Assembly to amend the relevant law to allow a further extension, citing the vast amount of remaining investigative work. On Tuesday, the Assembly passed an amendment to the comprehensive special prosecutor act extending the team's mandate, led by the Democratic Party of Korea.
bell@heraldcorp.com
