The second special prosecutor team, led by Kwon Chang-young, is seeking to secure the arrest of former Prosecutor General Sim Woo-jung, who is accused of participating in an insurrection under the direction of former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae during the emergency martial law declared on December 3, 2024.
On July 14, the special prosecutors announced, "We have requested arrest warrants for Sim, who faces charges of engaging in insurrection and abuse of power, as well as for Jeon Mu-gon, the former head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Planning and Coordination Department." However, the allegations against Sim related to the cover-up of the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation investigation were not included in the warrant request.
Sim is accused of considering the dispatch of prosecutors to the joint investigation team on the day martial law was declared, December 3, 2024, following instructions from Park.
After attending a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office, Park returned to the Ministry of Justice and convened a meeting with ten senior officials. He is suspected of having directed the Prosecutor's Office to consider the dispatch of prosecutors to the joint investigation team during this meeting.
Records show that Park had three phone conversations with Sim during this time, raising suspicions that similar instructions were given to Sim.
Additionally, Sim is alleged to have participated in discussions regarding crime response measures that would fall under military court jurisdiction after the declaration of martial law and was involved in drafting documents related to the "jurisdiction of trials under martial law."
Jeon, as the head of the Planning and Coordination Department during the martial law, is known to have assisted Sim and participated in discussions regarding the jurisdiction of trials under martial law.
The special prosecutors suspect that the Supreme Prosecutors' Office leadership may have participated in or condoned the unconstitutional and illegal declaration of martial law based on various circumstances.
Earlier, the special prosecutors launched a forced investigation into the allegations against Sim in April and May, and on July 3, they conducted searches of the work computers of senior officials at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the Prosecutor's Office's messaging server. On July 10, Sim was summoned for questioning as a suspect.
Warrant hearings for Sim and Jeon are expected to take place as early as the end of this week.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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