The second comprehensive special counsel team led by Special Prosecutor Kwon Chang-young — tasked with investigating allegations left unresolved after the three earlier special counsel probes into insurrection, Kim Keon Hee and the Marine — is coordinating with the insurrection special counsel team led by Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok on the direction of its investigation into former Capital Defense Command 1st Security Regiment commander Col. Cho Seong-hyeon and others.
The special counsel team held a briefing Monday afternoon in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, saying it is in talks with the insurrection special counsel over whether to indict Col. Cho, following a recent amendment to the Special Prosecutor Appointment Act for Uncovering the Truth Behind Insurrection, Foreign Interference and State Manipulation by Yoon Suk Yeol and Kim Keon Hee — commonly known as the comprehensive special prosecutor act.
Under the amended act, which passed a Cabinet meeting July 21, the special counsel team must consult with existing special counsel teams before reversing their decisions or taking actions that could affect the maintenance of indictments. The insurrection special counsel had previously declined to open a case against Col. Cho, but the comprehensive team has since registered him as a suspect on charges of participating in key insurrection duties.
According to the special counsel team, Col. Cho is accused of ordering units under his command to deploy to the National Assembly during the Dec. 3, 2024, emergency martial law declaration, directing their entry into and control of the premises, and relaying an order from then-Capital Defense Command chief Lee Jin-woo to "drag out the lawmakers." The team conducted suspect interrogations of Col. Cho on July 10 and July 15.
The team is also investigating officials from the Ground Operations Command on charges of participating in the insurrection. Following former commander Kang Ho-pil, two corps commanders under him have been registered as suspects on charges of aiding and abetting the insurrection. They are accused of establishing regional police forces and preparing troops to carry out martial law duties.
The team plans to indict this week, while in custody, former first deputy national security adviser Kim Tae-hyo, who faces charges including transmitting messages to allied nations justifying the martial law declaration after it was imposed. The team also said it conducted a suspect interrogation of former Korea Coast Guard chief Kim Jong-wook on charges of aiding and abetting the insurrection; an arrest warrant sought against him had been rejected.
The team said it had requested written statements from People Power Party lawmakers Na Kyung-won and Kim Ki-hyeon, who face charges of obstructing the execution of a Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials arrest warrant against former President Yoon Suk Yeol, but had not received them. Written statements had previously been received from fellow PPP lawmakers Yoon Sang-hyeon and Kwon Young-jin, who face the same charges.
On Tuesday, the team will conduct an on-site interrogation of former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun regarding items listed for collection in a notebook belonging to former Defense Intelligence Command chief Noh Sang-won. Kim had previously refused to comply with the team's summons on charges of conspiracy and preparation for insurrection-motivated murder.
The team is also investigating former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong in connection with allegations that preferential treatment was given to relatives of first lady Kim Keon Hee during the rerouting of the Seoul-Yangpyeong expressway. According to the team, Won is accused of ignoring internal ministry advice that the move could violate the law and issuing a press release announcing the cancellation of the project.
The team summoned and questioned Won on charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of rights on July 23. A second round of suspect interrogation is planned for next week. The team said it recently lifted a travel ban it had imposed on Won.
The team said Monday it executed search and seizure warrants at the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in connection with allegations that an investigation into Kim Keon Hee's involvement with Deutsch Motors was suppressed. The team is examining whether the ministry, and through it the presidential office or Kim herself, played a role in the decision not to indict her. Special Prosecutor Deputy Kim Ji-mi said the warrants targeted "computers and messaging applications used by then-Minister Park Seong-jae, then-Vice Minister Shim Woo-jung, and the head of the ministry's criminal planning division."
bell@heraldcorp.com
