Former President Couple, Prime Minister, Defense, and Administrative Ministers Followed by Justice and Prosecutor General Under Investigation 'First in History'

[Financial News]  The so-called three major special prosecutor teams have launched a comprehensive forced investigation into the former president couple, the Prime Minister, the Minister of National Defense, and the Minister of Public Administration and Security, followed by the Minister of Justice and the Prosecutor General on the 25th. It is unprecedented in history to bring the core power figures of the previous regime under investigation all at once. At this pace, it is unpredictable how far the investigation will expand. It is known that a significant number of participants in the cabinet meeting held just before the 12·3 emergency martial law are already on the list.
The special investigation team on rebellion and foreign affairs (Cho Eun-seok special prosecutor) conducted searches and seizures at the home of former Minister Park, who is suspected of being dispatched to the prosecution immediately after martial law, the Ministry of Justice, former Prosecutor General Shim's home, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and Seoul Detention Center. It is reported that former Prosecutor General Shim's mobile phone is also subject to search and seizure.
The special prosecutor team is investigating the suspicion that on the day of martial law, a prosecutor from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office contacted the Military Counterintelligence Command and then dispatched to the Central Election Commission (NEC).
It is known that multiple counterintelligence agents testified during the police investigation process that they received orders to support the prosecution and the National Intelligence Service going to the NEC after the declaration of martial law. It is said that Jeong Seong-woo, the head of the first counterintelligence division, received such instructions from Yeon In-hyung, the then commander of the Counterintelligence Command, and delivered them to the front line.
The Supreme Prosecutors' Office issued a statement during former Prosecutor General Shim's tenure, stating, "The prosecution has never received or dispatched any requests related to martial law from the Counterintelligence Command or any other agency," denying the allegations.
However, as the court issued a warrant, the special prosecutor team believes that specific and reasonable criminal charges against former Prosecutor General Shim have been substantiated.
Former Minister Park and others are also suspected of failing to prevent and abetting the illegal declaration of emergency martial law by former President Yoon.
He was one of the six cabinet members first called by former President Yoon to announce his plan just before martial law. There are also allegations that he convened a meeting of Ministry of Justice executives immediately after the declaration of emergency martial law and instructed them to consider dispatching prosecutors to the Joint Investigation Headquarters.
The special prosecutor team is also investigating the part where former Prosecutor General Shim did not file an immediate appeal after the court's decision to cancel the detention of former President Yoon during his tenure as Prosecutor General, on charges of abuse of power and other charges. Due to this, former President Yoon was released until he was re-arrested by the special prosecutor team.
The special prosecutor team is expected to send summons notifications to former Minister Park, former Prosecutor General Shim, and others while analyzing the seized materials. Although the special prosecutor team has about a month left, considering that there are still significant suspicions to be clarified, it is highly likely that the re-investigation of the remaining cabinet members at that time, including Choi Sang-mok, the former Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Strategy and Finance, will be conducted soon.
The pre-arrest interrogation (warrant review) for former Prime Minister Han, who has been charged with six counts including aiding and abetting the rebellion leader and perjury, will be held at 1:30 p.m. on the 26th under the jurisdiction of Judge Jeong Jae-wook. Judge Jeong issued arrest warrants for Kim Geon-hee on the 12th and former Minister of Public Administration and Security Lee Sang-min on the 1st. The main reason for issuance was mainly "concern over evidence destruction."
Meanwhile, the Kim Geon-hee special prosecutor team (Min Jung-gi special prosecutor) is considering indicting Kim as early as the 29th, considering that the detention period for Kim's arrest expires on the 31st. They also requested the National Assembly to increase the number of dispatched prosecutors and special prosecutors. Kim exercised her right to remain silent during the fourth investigation after her arrest, according to the special prosecutor team. Jeon Seong-bae, the former head of the Buddhist sect, was also summoned for investigation. The Chae Sang-byeong special prosecutor team (Lee Myung-hyun special prosecutor) is speeding up the investigation by sequentially summoning field commanders who participated in the missing persons search operation.





jisseo@fnnews.com Seo Min-ji, Kim Dong-kyu, Jeong Kyung-soo, Choi Eun-sol reporters