Special Investigation Team Intensifies Probe into Foreign Exchange Allegations... 'Yoon Summoned on 24th' [Legal Insight]

[Financial News] The Special Investigation Team on Rebellion and Foreign Exchange (led by Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok) is intensifying its probe into foreign exchange allegations centered around the suspected deployment of drones to Pyongyang.
According to the legal community on the 21st, the special investigation team has notified former President Yoon Seok-yeol, who is detained at Seoul Detention Center, to appear on the morning of the 24th. During this summons, the team plans to investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged drone deployment to Pyongyang.
The team suspects that former President Yoon ordered the deployment of drones to Pyongyang through the Drone Operations Command around October last year to create a pretext for declaring martial law on December 3rd, by provoking North Korea.
The team has confirmed that around June last year, during the operational planning stage, Kim Yong-hyun, then head of the Presidential Security Service, contacted several key military figures via secure phones to inquire about the drone operation.
The team has been accelerating its investigation by repeatedly summoning key figures such as Kim Yong-dae, former Commander of the Ministry of National Defense's Drone Operations Command, Lee Seung-oh, Chief of Operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Kim Myung-soo, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
However, although there were expectations that key figures like former Commander Kim Yong-dae would be indicted this month, there is a stance that further clarification of the allegations through factual verification is necessary.
Park Ji-young, Deputy Special Prosecutor for Rebellion, stated at a regular media briefing held at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 16th, "Since all allegations are interconnected, it is necessary to view them as a whole while verifying the facts of each allegation. Therefore, indicting the key figures at this time is premature," adding that "indictments or changes to the indictment will likely not occur in September as the facts need to be clarified."
On the 18th, the team also simultaneously investigated Park An-soo, former Martial Law Commander (former Army Chief of Staff), former Commander Kim Yong-dae, and Chairman Kim Myung-soo of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Meanwhile, the team is investigating Shim Woo-jung, former Prosecutor General, who is accused of assisting in the cancellation of former President Yoon's detention, as a suspect at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, where the special team's office is located.
Shim appeared before the special team at 9:54 a.m. that day. He did not respond to questions from reporters about his stance on the decision to abandon the immediate appeal against the cancellation of former President Yoon's detention and whether he received instructions from former Minister of Justice Park Sung-jae to dispatch prosecutors during the martial law period, heading straight to the investigation room.
Previously, in March, the Democratic Party and civic groups accused Shim of abuse of power and dereliction of duty for not filing an immediate appeal after the decision to cancel former President Yoon's detention, filing a complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO). The CIO determined that this was within the scope of the special investigation and handed the case over to the special team.
In March, former President Yoon, who was indicted on charges of leading a rebellion, filed for the cancellation of his detention, arguing that the prosecution's indictment was made after the detention period had expired, and the court granted this request. The court ruled that it was reasonable to calculate the detention period in "hours" rather than "days," determining that the prosecution proceeded with the indictment after the detention period had expired.
Shim is also suspected of receiving instructions from former Minister of Justice Park Sung-jae to dispatch prosecutors to the Joint Investigation Headquarters during the December 3rd martial law period. There are also suspicions that a prosecutor from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office contacted the Counterintelligence Command and then proceeded to the Central Election Management Committee (NEC).
The special team is expected to verify the facts of these allegations with Shim. To uncover the truth of the related allegations, the team seized and searched Shim's mobile phone and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office last month on the 25th.

kyu0705@fnnews.com Kim Dong-kyu Reporter