野 "After Martial Law, Communication Between Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Defense Counterintelligence Command, and National Intelligence Service"... Urging Investigation into Prosecutorial Involvement

The Democratic Party of Korea on the 5th disclosed a tip-off stating that a prosecutor from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office called an officer of the Republic of Korea Army Counterintelligence Command during the 'December 3 Emergency Martial Law Incident' and then headed to the National Election Commission, urging an investigation into the prosecution's alleged involvement in the martial law.

The Democratic Party's 'Yoon Seok-yeol Insurrection Truth Investigation Team' held a press conference at the National Assembly on the same day, announcing, "We have secured materials indicating that the prosecution and the National Intelligence Service directly intervened in the December 3 insurrection."

Democratic Party Internal Investigation Committee Meeting. Photo by Yonhap News

The investigation team stated, "Around 12:37 AM on December 4 (last year), Senior Prosecutor A of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Scientific Investigation Department called Colonel B of the Counterintelligence Command and spoke for about 1 minute and 22 seconds," adding, "Subsequently, around 12:53 AM, Colonel B spoke with Director C of the National Intelligence Service's Scientific Response Division for about 2 minutes and 2 seconds." They pointed out, "This was a late-night call among the senior prosecutor of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the colonel of the Counterintelligence Command, and the director of the NIS Scientific Response Division."

The team also said, "We have received a tip-off that two high-ranking prosecutors from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Scientific Investigation Department headed to the Gwacheon National Election Commission," explaining, "One of them was Senior Prosecutor A of the Scientific Investigation Department, who had spoken with the Counterintelligence Command colonel." They added, "Senior Prosecutor A is a high-ranking prosecutor at the chief prosecutor level who investigates digital forensics, lie detectors, DNA analysis, and cybercrime, and Director C of the NIS is a senior official of the National Security Intelligence Service known as a cyber expert."

If the tip-off is true, the investigation team claims that a high-ranking prosecutor's call with the Counterintelligence Command officer followed by heading to the National Election Commission reveals the prosecution's involvement in the insurrection. However, the team noted that it has not been confirmed whether the two prosecutors actually arrived at the National Election Commission at that time.

The team urged, "The investigative agencies must clearly clarify through investigation why the two high-ranking prosecutors from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Scientific Investigation Department headed there, how many investigators from the Scientific Investigation Department were dispatched, and under whose instructions."

The prosecution immediately rebutted. The spokesperson office of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated, "The prosecution reiterates that it did not receive any support requests from other agencies such as the Counterintelligence Command regarding the December 3 emergency martial law, nor did it provide support to other agencies." They explained that the senior prosecutor of the Scientific Investigation Department, who is suspected of heading out, merely called a colonel of the Counterintelligence Command with whom he has a personal friendship to check on the situation and well-being, and then returned home, denying any fact of heading out upon receiving a support request.

The spokesperson office added, "During the investigation by the prosecution's special investigation team, investigations were conducted on the parties involved in the phone calls, including Commander Yeo In-hyung and many Counterintelligence Command officials, confirming that the Counterintelligence Command did not make any requests to the prosecution regarding the emergency martial law," and further stated, "On January 22, at the National Assembly hearing, Jeong Seong-woo, Head of the 1st Division of the Counterintelligence Command, also testified that he had not heard from Commander Yeo In-hyung that the prosecution was heading to the National Election Commission."