Summoned as a Suspect... Also Questioned by Police Last Month
The prosecution investigating the December 3 emergency martial law situation summoned and questioned Park Seong-jae, Minister of Justice.
According to the legal community on the 31st, the Prosecution's Special Investigation Headquarters for Emergency Martial Law (headed by Park Se-hyun, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office) recently summoned Minister Park as a suspect and questioned him.
Earlier, Minister Park was also questioned last month by the police as a witness. He was one of the 11 cabinet members who attended the Cabinet meeting just before the declaration of emergency martial law on the 3rd of last month.
According to the prosecution's investigation, the Cabinet meeting at that time was attended by President Yoon Seok-yeol, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok, as well as Ministers Cho Tae-yeol (Foreign Affairs), Kim Young-ho (Unification), Park Seong-jae (Justice), Kim Yong-hyun (Defense), Lee Sang-min (Interior and Safety), Song Mi-ryeong (Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs), Cho Kyu-hong (Welfare), and Oh Young-joo (Small and Medium Venture Businesses).
Minister Park testified at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee last month, stating, "I recall that not a single person was in favor (at the Cabinet meeting)," and "Everyone was surprised and expressed concerns."
Minister Park stated that he arrived at the Presidential Office just before the declaration of emergency martial law, heard discussions related to the martial law, and maintained that there was no prior discussion or legal review of the martial law.
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