Police Summons Former Capital Defense Commander Lee Jinwoo over Impeachment Trial Perjury

On Trial for Participation in Important Duties Related to Insurrection

Former Capital Defense Command Commander Lee Jinwoo, who is suspected of committing perjury during the impeachment trial of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, appeared before the police. The former commander is also on trial on charges of participating in an insurrection in connection with critical duties.

According to the police and other sources on the 13th, the Special Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency, which has taken over and is investigating the three independent counsel cases, summoned the former commander at around 10:00 a.m. that day as a suspect on charges of perjury and is questioning him.

Lee Jinwoo, former Commander of the Capital Defense Command. Kim Hyunmin, Reporter

The former commander appeared as a witness at the fifth hearing of the impeachment trial of former President Yoon in February last year. When asked, "When the National Assembly was to be deployed to, did you ever receive instructions from (then Defense Minister) Kim Yonghyun or the president to block access to the main building and prevent a resolution to lift martial law?", he answered, "No."

In response, a civic group filed a criminal complaint with the prosecution, alleging perjury. It claimed that at the impeachment trial hearings for former President Yoon, the former commander, along with former Defense Minister Kim Yonghyun, former Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sangmin, and former Defense Counterintelligence Command Commander Yeo Inhyeong, testified in a way that denied the key suspicions.

During the questioning on this day, the police are expected to examine whether the former commander’s testimony was false and to determine the circumstances under which he testified.

Meanwhile, the former commander, together with former Commander Yeo Inhyeong, has been indicted on charges of participating in an insurrection in connection with the declaration of emergency martial law. The 26th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Hyunkyung) held the first preparatory hearing on the 11th and discussed future trial plans. The two had previously been tried at the Central Regional Military Court, but after the Ministry of National Defense Disciplinary Committee decided to dismiss them, the case was transferred to the Seoul Central District Court. In that trial, former President Yoon and others remain listed as common witnesses, and witness examinations are expected to take place.