Park Hyun-soo, acting commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, who has been suspected of being involved in the emergency martial law situation, stated on the 18th, "I have not been involved in any way related to the martial law."
On the 18th, at the plenary meeting of the Administrative Safety Committee held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Park Hyun-soo, Acting Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, is responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yonhap News
Park, who has been promoted to commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, appeared at the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee briefing on the same day and responded to the question from Lee Hae-sik, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who said, "Resign voluntarily."
Park, who was the head of the Police Bureau at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, was revealed to have made several phone calls with then-Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min and Police Commissioner Cho Ji-ho immediately after the martial law was declared, raising suspicions that he might have been involved in police control over the National Assembly or the deployment of arrest squads.
Park said, "In the unprecedented situation of martial law, I thought it was necessary as the head of the Police Bureau to grasp the basic situation related to the martial law, so I contacted the relevant parties."
In response to the question from Yang Bu-nam, a Democratic Party member, asking, 'Do you agree that the declaration of emergency martial law was unconstitutional and illegal?' he replied, "I agree that it was a wrong measure."
Regarding the ongoing investigations by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency into the Seoul Western District Court disturbance, the Constitutional Court riot conspiracy, and the allegations of incitement to rebellion involving People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun, Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon of Sarang Jeil Church, and Korean history lecturer Jeon Han-gil, Park said, "I will do my best according to the law and principles."
Park explained about being suspended from his position in 2012 when he retweeted a post criticizing Lee Jung-hee, leader of the Unified Progressive Party, on the official Twitter account of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency while serving as the head of the New Media Public Relations Division, saying, "I was newly issued a smart device and during the testing process with staff, a button operation mistake caused the retweet. I did not compose the retweet myself."
Lee Ho-young, acting commissioner of the National Police Agency, who appeared together at the Public Administration and Security Committee, denied allegations of presidential office interference in senior police personnel appointments.
When asked whether he had received calls from Chief Secretary Jeong Jin-seok, Civil Affairs Office Chief Kim Ju-hyun, or Public Service Discipline Secretary Lee Won-mo, Lee said, "I did not receive any calls," and stated that he had consulted with Go Ki-dong, acting minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, regarding police personnel matters.
When asked, "Who recommended acting commissioner Park?" he replied, "I cannot speak specifically about personnel matters," and added, "I have never publicly disclosed the fact of the consultation."
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