"Separate from Martial Law Incident...
Doing Our Best Until Special Prosecutor Launch"
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which is investigating allegations that the Defense Counterintelligence Command compiled a "blacklist" document by probing the political inclinations of former and current military generals, stated that "search and seizure operations are still ongoing."
At a regular briefing on the 10th, a CIO official said, "Since last week, we have been conducting search and seizure operations at the Counterintelligence Command almost every day," adding, "This is because it takes time to recover servers that are distributed across various locations."
The CIO is currently focusing its investigation on two main allegations: that the Counterintelligence Command created documents investigating the political inclinations of former and current military generals and intervened in military personnel matters, and that it compiled a "Choi Kangwook list" of military legal officers with personal ties to former lawmaker Choi Kangwook.
The CIO has identified Yeo Inhyeong, the former commander of the Counterintelligence Command, as a suspect in the creation of the blacklist document and is investigating him on charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights. A CIO official explained, "We have registered a separate case number for the Counterintelligence Command-related incident, which is distinct from the investigation into the 12·3 Martial Law Incident."
Previously, during search and seizure operations at the Counterintelligence Command related to the investigation into charges of insurrection in connection with the 12·3 Martial Law Incident, the CIO discovered some documents suspected to be blacklists and subsequently launched an investigation. It is reported that the CIO has since obtained statements from multiple members of the Counterintelligence Command indicating that "after former commander Yeo took office in November 2023, a blacklist was created and operated, and documents that influenced military personnel decisions were also prepared."
As President Lee Jaemyung promulgated the "Three Special Prosecutor Laws" (the Martial Law Special Prosecutor Act, the Kim Keonhee Special Prosecutor Act, and the Chae Sangbyeong Special Prosecutor Act) at a Cabinet meeting on this day, the CIO is expected to focus on investigations related to the Counterintelligence Command blacklist and existing complaints after the launch of the special prosecutor's office.
If the special prosecutor's team is established, the CIO will be required to hand over all investigation materials related to the martial law incident and the allegations of external pressure in the death of Marine Chae Sangbyeong to the special prosecutor.
A CIO official stated, "If the special prosecutor's office is launched and requests materials, we will, of course, hand them over," adding, "Until then, we will do our utmost to continue the investigation."
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