Prosecution Conducts First Suspect Interrogation After Detaining Female Counterintelligence Commander

A former commander of the Republic of Korea Army Counterintelligence Command is attending an emergency inquiry on martial law held at the National Assembly Intelligence Committee. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

Yeoinhyeong, Commander of the Republic of Korea Army Counterintelligence Command, who was arrested on charges of conspiring with President Yoon Suk-yeol and others to commit insurrection, was summoned by the prosecution and investigated.

According to the legal community on the 16th, the Special Investigation Headquarters for Emergency Martial Law summoned Commander Yeoinhyeong in the afternoon and is conducting an investigation.

This is the first time the Special Investigation Headquarters has summoned and investigated Commander Yeoinhyeong, who was arrested on the 14th, as a suspect. Since Commander Yeoinhyeong is an active-duty soldier, the investigation is under the jurisdiction of the military prosecution, and the investigation on this day was conducted by military prosecutors dispatched to the Special Investigation Headquarters, focusing on charges including participation in important duties related to insurrection.

Commander Yeoinhyeong is accused of performing important duties related to the insurrection during the 'December 3 Emergency Martial Law Incident,' such as ordering the arrest of key figures including representatives of ruling and opposition parties and securing the central election commission's computer servers.

It was investigated that he ordered his subordinates to arrest 14 key figures, including Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, Han Dong-hoon, former leader of the People Power Party, and Woo Won-shik, Speaker of the National Assembly, detain them in bunkers within the Capital Defense Command, and secure the servers of the election commission without a warrant.

Earlier, on the 14th, the Central Regional Military Court, which handled the pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant review) for Commander Yeoinhyeong, issued an arrest warrant in about 50 minutes. It is reported that the military court judged the charges to be serious and there was a risk of flight.