"Martial Law Troops Deployed to National Assembly" Lee Jin-woo, Defense Security Command Commander, Arrested... "Risk of Escape and Evidence Tampering" (Comprehensive)

Jinwoo Lee, former Capital Defense Command. Yonhap News Agency

Lee Jin-woo, the Capital Defense Command commander accused of deploying troops to the National Assembly during the '12·3 Emergency Martial Law Incident,' has been detained.

The Special Investigation Headquarters for Emergency Martial Law under the prosecution announced on the 16th that a detention warrant was issued for Commander Lee, who is suspected of engaging in important duties related to insurrection, due to concerns over flight risk and evidence tampering.

This is the fourth detention warrant issued by the prosecution in connection with this case, following former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, Director of the Defense Counterintelligence Command Yeo In-hyung, and Special Warfare Command Commander Kwak Jong-geun.

After President Yoon Seok-yeol declared emergency martial law, Commander Lee deployed a total of 211 troops to the National Assembly, including 75 military police from the Capital Defense Command and 136 personnel from the 1st Security Group.

During the prosecution's investigation, Commander Lee reportedly testified that he received multiple phone calls from President Yoon at the National Assembly site, and in the last two calls, he was instructed to "pull the members of the National Assembly out."

Additionally, there are allegations that the Capital Defense Command Military Police Special Duty Team (SDT) was used as an arrest squad for 14 key figures, including Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. There are also claims that the B1 bunker of the Capital Defense Command was considered as a detention site for the arrested individuals. The prosecution suspects that Commander Lee was aware of the martial law operation in advance.

The prosecution obtained an arrest warrant from the military court after Commander Lee refused to respond to the investigation without justifiable reason and arrested him on the 13th. Commander Lee's side maintains that "he did not refuse the prosecution's summons."