Prosecution Plans to Indict Former Army Chief of Staff Park and Three Others
Prosecutors investigating the illegal martial law incident of December 3 are expected to indict key military generals this week. Among the targets is former Army Chief of Staff Park An-su, who served as the martial law commander during the emergency, including the "three commanders."
According to a government official on the 30th, the Special Investigation Headquarters for Martial Law (headed by Park Se-hyun, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office) plans to sequentially indict and detain former Capital Defense Command Commander Lee Jin-woo, former Defense Counterintelligence Command Commander Yeo In-hyung, former Army Special Warfare Command Commander Kwak Jong-geun, and former Army Chief of Staff Park An-su this week.
Among the three commanders, former Commander Lee and former Commander Kwak, who are accused of deploying troops to the National Assembly immediately after martial law to obstruct the resolution to lift martial law, are expected to be indicted on the 31st of this month and the 3rd of next month, respectively. Former Commander Yeo, who led the formation and operation of the main personnel arrest team and attempted to occupy the Central Election Commission and remove servers, will have his detention period end on the 1st of next month. The detention period for former Chief of Staff Park, who served as the martial law commander during the emergency, will also expire on the 5th of next month, and he is expected to be indicted as early as the 3rd.
If they are indicted, most military suspects at the commander level or higher involved in the illegal martial law and subsequent actions will stand trial. The investigation records and suspect statements that may be disclosed upon their indictment are tantamount to evidence of President Yoon Seok-yeol's crimes. The prosecutors' investigation has thus reached right up to President Yoon, who has been identified as the "ringleader of the rebellion."
Under current law, only the police have the authority to investigate treason, but the prosecution has formed a joint investigation headquarters with military prosecutors to investigate related crimes as "police officer crimes," while the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) has formed a joint investigation headquarters with the police to investigate related crimes of "abuse of authority," both investigating treason.
Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Headquarters for Martial Law is reported to have secured numerous records in which subordinates took notes on the orders given by former Chief of Staff Park and the three commanders on the day martial law was declared.
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