Special Prosecutor for Insurrection Summons Choo Kyung-ho Over Alleged Obstruction of Martial Law Lift Vote

[Financial News] The Special Prosecutor Team for Insurrection and Treason, led by Cho Eun-seok, plans to summon Choo Kyung-ho, former floor leader of the People Power Party, for questioning regarding allegations of obstructing the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea’s December 3 martial law lift vote.
According to legal sources on the 22nd, the special prosecutor is currently coordinating with Choo’s side to schedule the summons in connection with the alleged interference in the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea’s vote to lift martial law.
Choo’s office has stated that he will appear after completing the ongoing Parliamentary Inspection of the Administration. Since the National Policy Committee, to which Choo belongs, is set to conclude its comprehensive inspection on the 28th, the summons could take place as early as the last week of this month.
Choo is suspected of having changed the location of the party caucus three times—from the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea to the party headquarters and back—immediately after former President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on December 3 last year. This allegedly caused a majority of party lawmakers to miss the vote. At the time, the motion to lift martial law passed while 90 out of 108 People Power Party lawmakers were absent.
The special prosecutor suspects that, immediately after the declaration of martial law, Choo communicated with former President Yoon Suk Yeol, former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, and former Senior Presidential Secretary for Political Affairs Hong Chul-ho to discuss the party’s response and direction.
On the 2nd of last month, the special prosecutor executed a search and seizure warrant against Choo. The investigation intensified with further searches of his previous offices, including the People Power Party’s floor leader’s office.
Currently, Choo is a pretrial witness at the Seoul Central District Court, as requested by the special prosecutor. However, only his legal counsel has attended, and Choo himself has not appeared.
To investigate Choo’s actions on the day martial law was declared, the special prosecutor has already questioned current People Power Party lawmakers, including Cho Kyoung-tae and Kim Yeji. If Choo appears, the special prosecutor is expected to question him about whether former President Yoon Suk Yeol issued any instructions after declaring martial law and the reasons for repeatedly changing the caucus location.

theknight@fnnews.com Jung Kyung-soo Reporter