Deputy Director of Defense Ministry Investigation Headquarters Excluded from Duties...Suspected Involvement of 'Kim Yonghyun Team'

Head of Headquarters and Deputy Director Also Suspected of Martial Law Involvement
Police and Others Suspend Support for Joint Investigation Headquarters Inquiry

Colonel Kim, deputy chief of the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters, who is suspected of being involved in the emergency martial law situation, has been excluded from his duties.

According to the military on the 20th, the Ministry of National Defense recently excluded and separated Deputy Chief Kim from the investigation, who was suspected of participating in former Minister Kim Yong-hyun's plan to form a 'direct investigation team.' When emergency martial law is declared, a joint investigation headquarters centered on the Defense Counterintelligence Command is formed to investigate violations of the proclamation order. Former Minister Kim Yong-hyun is suspected of separately attempting to form a team that would report directly to him.

The direct investigation team, reportedly planned by former Minister Kim, included personnel from the Defense Counterintelligence Command as well as some members of the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters, including Deputy Chief Kim.

Deputy Chief Kim holds the second-highest rank in the Investigation Headquarters. Following Director Park Heon-su, Deputy Chief Kim is now also suspected of involvement in the martial law case, leading the Investigation Headquarters to suspend its support operations for the joint investigation headquarters formed with the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Division (Gongsoocheo) and the National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters. This effectively made cooperation in the investigation impossible.

A Ministry of National Defense official stated, "The Investigation Headquarters had independently formed a support team to assist the joint investigation headquarters, but the operation of the support team has been suspended," adding, "There were no personnel dispatched to the joint investigation headquarters from the beginning."