Police Regret Denial of Emergency Arrest for Intelligence Commander Moon Sang-ho... "Will Conduct Thorough Investigation"

Prosecution: "Violation of Military Court Act Jurisdiction Provisions"

The Special Investigation Unit of the National Police Agency, investigating the ‘12·3 Emergency Martial Law’ incident, expressed regret on the 16th over the prosecution’s disapproval of the urgent arrest of Intelligence Commander Moon Sang-ho.

Sang-ho Moon, Commander of the Defense Intelligence Command. Photo by Yonhap News

On the same day, the Special Investigation Unit stated, “The police have investigative authority over active-duty military personnel and are explicitly the investigative body for the crime of insurrection. We express regret over the prosecution’s disapproval and plan to continue thorough investigations.” They added, “The prosecution disapproved the recommendation for urgent arrest of the Intelligence Commander, citing that the military court holds trial jurisdiction, not investigative authority. Investigative authority and trial jurisdiction are distinct, and the police made the urgent arrest of the Intelligence Commander due to its urgency and necessity.”

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office disapproved the police’s recommendation to approve the urgent arrest of Intelligence Commander Moon Sang-ho. The prosecution stated, “Considering the investigation and arrest circumstances, this urgent arrest violates the trial jurisdiction provisions of the Military Court Act.” According to the Criminal Procedure Act, if the prosecutor notifies disapproval of an urgent arrest, the suspect must be released immediately.

Commander Moon is accused of ordering the deployment of troops to the Central Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, following President Yoon Seok-yeol’s martial law declaration on the 3rd. He is also suspected of deploying the North Korean infiltration unit (HID) under the Intelligence Command to urgently arrest members of the National Assembly.