Military prosecutors obtain warrants through military courts
Over 50 military prosecutors and investigators deployed nationwide
The prosecution investigating the '12·3 Emergency Martial Law Incident' has launched a search and seizure operation targeting the Defense Counterintelligence Command.
The Prosecution Emergency Martial Law Special Investigation Headquarters (Head: Park Se-hyun, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul High Prosecutors' Office) has been conducting a search and seizure at the Defense Counterintelligence Command located in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province since the morning of the 9th.
On that day, the Special Investigation Headquarters stated, "The prosecution and military prosecutors conducting joint investigations are carrying out a search and seizure at the Defense Counterintelligence Command in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, starting this morning."
The prosecution, together with military prosecutors involved in the joint investigation, has dispatched about 50 military prosecutors and investigators to the offices related to the Defense Counterintelligence Command to secure materials related to the emergency martial law.
It is reported that the search and seizure targets include not only the offices and official residences of Defense Counterintelligence Command executives such as Commander Yeo In-hyung but also many offices scattered nationwide, including in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. This is the first time since the Special Investigation Headquarters was formed on the 6th of this month that a joint search and seizure with military prosecutors has been conducted.
The warrant for this search and seizure is known to have been issued by a military court to the military prosecutors.
The Defense Counterintelligence Command is identified as a key institution in uncovering the full story of the 'Emergency Martial Law Incident.' On the evening of the 3rd, when President Yoon Seok-yeol declared the emergency martial law, the Defense Counterintelligence Command dispatched troops and personnel to the National Assembly and the Central Election Management Committee.
The Defense Counterintelligence Command is suspected of having premeditated the emergency martial law, attempted to arrest major political figures such as People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon and Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung after the declaration, and of having drafted the proclamation order.
On the morning of the 7th, Yeoinhyeong, Commander of the Republic of Korea Military Counterintelligence Command, attending the full meeting of the Intelligence Committee held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
The Ministry of National Defense suspended Commander Yeo's duties on the 6th and additionally suspended the duties of Jeong Seong-woo, Chief of the 1st Division of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, and Kim Dae-woo, head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command investigation team, the day before yesterday.
Commander Yeo, a graduate of the 48th class of the Korea Military Academy, is an alumnus of Chung-Ang High School, the same as President Yoon and former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun.
Hong Jang-won, former 1st Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service, revealed in a phone call immediately after the martial law declaration that Commander Yeo read out a list of arrest targets including ruling and opposition party leaders and requested location tracking for their capture.
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