Special Prosecutors to Question Kim Myung-soo Again, Likely to Indict This Week

The second special prosecutor team, led by Kwon Chang-young, is investigating allegations of participation in the emergency martial law declared on December 3. They have summoned Kim Myung-soo, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for a third round of questioning. The team is considering indicting Kim this week without detention and is also expected to charge detained Joint Chiefs of Staff officials alongside him.

The special prosecutor's team began questioning Kim at 9:30 a.m. on July 1 at their office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. This follows his first questioning on May 27 and a second on June 22, after a court denied a request for his arrest last month.

The team is reviewing the possibility of indicting Kim without detention this week. It is also anticipated that former Vice Chairman Jeong Jin-pal, former Inspection Director Lee Jae-sik, and former Army Headquarters Policy Director Kim Heung-jun, who were arrested last month, will be indicted before their detention periods expire. This questioning is seen as the final opportunity to gather evidence before formal charges are filed.

Kim is accused of participating in insurrection by failing to prevent military forces from being deployed to the National Assembly and other locations during the emergency martial law on December 3, 2024, despite being aware of the situation. The special prosecutors believe that Kim, who held operational command authority over the Special Warfare Command and the Capital Defense Command, did not fulfill his duty to prevent illegal troop deployments.

The prosecutors suspect that Kim approved and issued fragmentary orders directing the Special Warfare Command and the Capital Defense Command to prioritize martial law operations. They have reportedly obtained testimony from Lee Seung-oh, former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Operations Headquarters, indicating that Kim instructed him to draft the orders prioritizing martial law tasks.

In contrast, Kim's legal team has categorically denied the allegations, asserting that after the declaration of emergency martial law, former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun directly commanded and controlled the martial law forces, and that Kim Myung-soo was excluded from the decision-making process, rendering him unable to exercise actual command authority. They also refute the claims regarding the issuance of fragmentary orders.

Previously, the Seoul Central District Court rejected an arrest warrant for Kim on June 15, citing the need to protect his rights due to the potential for dispute over the main charges. Arrest warrants were issued for Jeong, Lee, and Kim due to concerns over evidence tampering.

The special prosecutor's team has been investigating allegations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's involvement in martial law as their first cognizant incident since their establishment. They have focused on whether Kim, Jeong, former Military Support Headquarters Chief Kang Dong-gil, former Headquarters Chief Lee, former Operations Headquarters Chief Ahn Chan-myung, and former Vice Chairman Lee were complicit in the martial law.

During the investigation, testimonies from current and former Joint Chiefs of Staff officials indicated that even after the National Assembly passed a resolution demanding the lifting of martial law at 1:03 a.m. on December 4, there were additional requests for troop deployments to the Joint Chiefs of Staff before the State Council's decision to lift the martial law. The investigation continues into allegations that the Joint Chiefs of Staff attempted to initiate a "second martial law" under the direction of former President Yoon Suk Yeol.