‘Illegality’ Raised at Meeting Convened by Former Minister Park Sungjae... Questioned as Reference Witness
Indictment Amendment Considered for Former Prime Minister Han Ducksoo on “Performing Important Duties Related to Insurrection”
Former Minister of Justice Park Sungjae, who is accused of abetting and participating in former President Yoon Sukyeol's declaration of martial law on December 3, is leaving the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, after completing the pre-arrest detention hearing on the 14th. Photo by Yonhap News
On October 21, the special prosecutor team led by Cho Eunseok summoned Seung Jaehyun, Director of Human Rights at the Ministry of Justice, as a reference witness for questioning. Seung attended a meeting of senior officials at the Ministry of Justice following the declaration of martial law in December last year.
Director Seung was summoned as a reference witness in connection with the case against former Minister of Justice Park Sungjae, who is accused of performing important duties related to insurrection. It is reported that immediately after the declaration of martial law, Seung attended a meeting convened by Park with directors and bureau chiefs at the Ministry of Justice, where he expressed the opinion that the martial law proclamation could be unconstitutional or illegal.
Previously, the special prosecutor team requested an arrest warrant for former Minister Park on charges of participating in former President Yoon Sukyeol’s insurrection by convening a meeting of directors and bureau chiefs at the Ministry of Justice after the declaration of martial law and ordering a review of dispatching prosecutors to the joint investigation headquarters. However, the warrant was denied.
Special Prosecutor Park Jiyoung explained, "The most important factor in the dismissal of the warrant was the recognition of illegality," and added, "We are investigating related parties and collecting additional evidence to clarify this aspect further."
She further stated, "Among the instructions issued by former Minister Park to each department, there were some that appeared to go beyond simple review and actually directed or prepared for concrete implementation. It seems these were intended to prepare for events that might have occurred if martial law had continued for an extended period."
Additionally, the special prosecutor team announced that it would "actively consider" the court’s request to amend the indictment in the case of former Prime Minister Han Ducksoo, so that the charge of abetting the leader of an insurrection would be selectively combined under Article 87, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Act (performing important duties related to insurrection).
Special Prosecutor Park stated, "There was considerable debate over the legal application to the facts recognized at the time of indictment," and added, "We applied the more serious charge of abetting the leader of an insurrection, and since this was discussed even at the time of indictment, we will actively consider the selective combination as requested by the presiding judge."
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