President Yoon May Summon Witnesses... Special Committee on National Security Starts Full Investigation into 'Rebellion Charges'

Special Committee Begins Full-Scale Operation with Agency Reports
Reports from the Presidential Office and Others to Follow Tomorrow After the Military
Park Chan-dae Warns: "We Will Uncover Yoon and His Subordinates"

The "Special Committee for the National Investigation into the Allegations of Insurrection through the Declaration of Martial Law by the Yoon Seok-yeol Administration" will begin its full-scale investigation starting with agency reports on the 14th.

The national investigation into the insurrection allegations received reports on the morning of the same day at the National Assembly from eight agencies: the Ministry of National Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Army Headquarters, the Counterintelligence Command, the Intelligence Command, the Capital Defense Command, the Special Warfare Command, and the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters. In addition to Kim Seon-ho, Deputy Minister of National Defense, Park An-su, Chief of Staff of the Army who is currently detained, and Kwak Jong-geun, Commander of the Special Warfare Command, also appeared.

On the 7th, at the National Assembly, Ahn Kyu-baek, the chairman of the Special Committee on the National Investigation into the Alleged Rebellion Charges through the Declaration of Martial Law by the Yoon Seok-yeol Administration, is striking the gavel. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

The Democratic Party is demanding that President Yoon Seok-yeol and former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun be summoned as witnesses for the special committee hearings. The Democratic Party also stated that they would issue a summons order if they fail to appear at the hearings. The People Power Party plans to request the adoption of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, and Kim Min-seok, Supreme Council member, as general witnesses. According to the national investigation implementation plan passed in the plenary session on the 31st of last month, the special committee will operate until the 13th of next month. The period can be extended through a plenary session resolution if necessary.

Meanwhile, the leadership of the People Power Party plans to individually collect opinions within the party by the afternoon of the same day and decide whether to propose the Martial Law Special Prosecutor Act. Joo Jin-woo, chairman of the People Power Party's legal advisory committee, presented a draft of the special prosecutor law at the previous day’s party meeting that deletes the charges of foreign exchange attraction crime and incitement to insurrection and limits the scope of investigation by the special prosecutor.

The scope of investigation by the special prosecutor has been narrowed to include attempts to seize the National Assembly immediately after the declaration of martial law, attempts to paralyze the functions of the Central Election Commission, suspicions of attempts to arrest and detain politicians, public officials, and civilians, allegations of causing human and material damage by using live ammunition or physical force, and charges related to participation, command, engagement, facilitation, involvement in riots, and prior conspiracy in the insurrection until the lifting of martial law.

However, within the party, there is a clash between those who argue that the party should propose its own special prosecutor law even now and those who claim that proposing the special prosecutor law itself would be giving bait to the opposition party, so there is a possibility that the party consensus proposal may fail.