Prosecutors' Office Summons Former Defense Minister Song Young-moo Over 'Forced Signature' Allegation

The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit summoned former Minister of National Defense Song Young-moo on the 26th over allegations of 'forcible false signature'.

Former Minister of National Defense Song Young-moo [Photo by Yonhap News]

According to the legal community, the investigation division of the Corruption Investigation Office summoned former Minister Song in the morning as a suspect and questioned him.

Former Minister Song is accused of abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights for forcing his subordinates to create and sign a fact-checking statement denying the claim that he said "there is no legal problem" during a meeting in July 2018 regarding the martial law review document prepared by the Defense Security Command under the Park Geun-hye administration, after media reports surfaced about his remarks.

It was revealed the following year through then-Assemblyman Lee Cheol-hee of the Democratic Party and the Military Human Rights Center that the Defense Security Command had prepared a document titled "Plan for Implementing Martial Law and Joint Operations" during the impeachment crisis of former President Park in 2017. Subsequently, reports about former Minister Song's remarks suggesting "no problem" sparked controversy over the nature of the document.

Last month, the Corruption Investigation Office registered former Minister Song, retired Army Major General Jeong Hae-il, and then-Defense Ministry spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo (currently Director of the Defense Mental Health Institute) as suspects, and secured original fact-checking statements and related materials from their residences and the Ministry of National Defense. It is reported that retired Major General Jeong and former spokesperson Choi also appeared at the Corruption Investigation Office for questioning prior to former Minister Song's summons on the same day.

Min Byung-sam, then commander of the Defense Ministry's 100th Defense Security Unit (retired colonel), who is known to have been the only one to refuse to sign the fact-checking statement, appeared at the Corruption Investigation Office on the 9th as a witness. Former Colonel Min is the person who reported to superiors a document titled "Minister-led Meeting Summary" which summarized former Minister Song's problematic remarks.

Based on the investigation conducted on this day, the Corruption Investigation Office is expected to conclude the investigation soon and decide whether to request prosecution.