Police Clarify "100 Investigators Reported to Office... No Specific Role Explanation Provided"

Remarks at the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee Plenary Meeting on the 23rd

After the declaration of martial law, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency clarified the suspicion that it had prepared a list of investigators at the request of the National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters (NIH). The police explained, "The NIH did not explicitly request the specific roles of the investigators."

On the 23rd, Lim Gyeong-woo, head of the Seoul Police Investigation Department, appeared at the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee plenary session and stated, "Around 12:10 a.m. on the 4th, I was informed that the NIH received a request from military officials to dispatch 100 investigators and asked us to prepare a list." He added, "I instructed them to check if there was a specific reason for the dispatch, and later the NIH told us to only prepare the list."

Lim also said, "At that time, I was concurrently serving as the head of the Metropolitan Investigation Unit, and from midnight, a 'heightened alert' was issued. During heightened alert, it is regulated to maintain an emergency communication system and standby posture for dispatch, so I instructed the investigators to prepare the list and come to the office." He continued, "About 80 people came to the office sequentially, and after receiving the list report, I dismissed everyone."

He also explained the background of preparing the investigator list. He said, "Since the NIH did not clearly request specific roles, I judged that it was inappropriate to provide the list to the NIH or other agencies, so I instructed the team leader in charge of the Metropolitan Investigation Unit to report the list only to me." He added, "Many citizens were gathered in front of the National Assembly, so the intelligence crime investigation teams at local police stations were also on standby."

Lim's remarks are interpreted to mean that the investigators of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Metropolitan Investigation Unit were on emergency standby in the office as a precautionary measure following the heightened alert order, and that this was unrelated to suspicions of mobilizing police arrest squads.

Earlier, on the 3rd, after the declaration of martial law, controversy arose over the National Police Agency's NIH requesting the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to prepare a list of about 100 investigators, and that an actual emergency standby list was created based on this request.