Presided Over by Judge Park Jungho at Seoul Central District Court
Charges Include Political Involvement and More
Former National Intelligence Service Director Cho Taeyong, who is accused of being involved in the overall situation before and after the December 12-3 emergency martial law, appeared as a suspect on the 17th of last month at the office of Special Prosecutor Jo Eunseok's team for the rebellion case, set up at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu. Photo by Yonhap News.
The special prosecutor team led by Jo Eunseok, which is investigating allegations of rebellion and foreign collusion related to the December 12·3 emergency martial law, has requested an arrest warrant for former National Intelligence Service Director Cho Taeyong. The court's substantive review of the warrant for Cho is scheduled to take place at 10:10 a.m. on November 11 at the Seoul Central District Court. The hearing will be presided over by Judge Park Jungho, who is in charge of warrants.
At a regular briefing on the 7th, Special Prosecutor Park Jiyoung stated, "We have requested an arrest warrant for former Director Cho on charges including violation of the National Intelligence Service Act's prohibition on political involvement, dereliction of duty, perjury, destruction of evidence, fabrication and use of false official documents, and violation of the Act on Testimony and Appraisal before the National Assembly." She explained, "Given the status and duties of the National Intelligence Service Director, the case is of grave importance, and there is concern about the destruction of evidence."
Former Director Cho is accused of failing to report to the National Assembly and neglecting his duties, despite being aware of the plan to declare emergency martial law before former President Yoon Suk-yeol's public address. According to Article 15 of the National Intelligence Service Act, the Director must promptly report to the President and the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee if a situation arises that has a significant impact on national security.
The special prosecutor team also determined that former Director Cho's failure to report to the National Assembly, even after receiving a report from former First Deputy Director Hong Jangwon that "the martial law forces are searching for Lee Jaemyung and Han Donghoon" following the declaration of martial law, constitutes dereliction of duty.
Special Prosecutor Park stated, "As the head of an agency responsible for collecting information directly related to national stability, the National Intelligence Service Director is required to maintain a high degree of political neutrality." She added, "Collecting and preparing information related to rebellion and foreign collusion is also part of the Director's duties." Park further emphasized, "How quickly the Director distributes and communicates the information collected can affect the nation's response system," and added, "The role and responsibility of the Director during a crisis is therefore significant."
Former Director Cho is also accused of violating the National Intelligence Service Act's prohibition on political involvement by providing CCTV footage from the agency showing the movements of former Deputy Director Hong only to the People Power Party, while withholding footage of his own movements from the Democratic Party of Korea.
Former Director Cho also faces charges of perjury for testifying before the National Assembly and the Constitutional Court that former President Yoon never mentioned "extraordinary measures" during the "Samcheong-dong safe house meeting" in March of last year.
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