Cho Tae-yong denies charges at first trial over failure to report Martial Law plan to National Assembly: "The special prosecutor indicted based on imagination"

Financial News – Former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Cho Tae-yong, who has been indicted for allegedly failing to report a planned December 3 Martial Law declaration to the National Assembly, continued to deny the charges at his first trial.
On the 4th, Criminal Division 32 of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Ryu Kyung-jin, held the first trial hearing for Cho, who has been detained and indicted on charges including violating the National Intelligence Service Act’s ban on political involvement and dereliction of duty.
Cho’s side maintained its not-guilty stance, repeating the denial of charges it had set out during the pretrial preparation hearings.
Cho’s attorney argued, "The special prosecutor seems to imagine that Mr. Cho conspired to commit insurrection and even meticulously discussed an operational plan," adding, "If they were going to indict based on imagination, they should have charged him with engaging in important duties related to insurrection, not with mere dereliction of duty." The lawyer went on, "The defendant never participated in, nor shared in the execution of, any acts of insurrection by former President Yoon Suk Yeol or former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun," and explained, "The very fact that he was not charged with engaging in important duties related to insurrection clearly shows there is no objective evidence that he was involved in carrying out such acts."
The defense also contested the allegation that Cho failed to report to the National Assembly even after receiving a report from former First Deputy Director Hong Jang-won about attempts by Martial Law troops to arrest politicians. They argued that it must first be examined whether this situation actually constituted a "circumstance with a significant impact" as defined under the National Intelligence Service Act. Even if Hong had reported an attempted arrest, the defense claimed, it was not conveyed as a concrete plan that arrests of politicians would indeed be carried out, and Cho understood it as a statement with unclear origins.
The court indicated that it plans to conclude the hearings as early as the end of next month. At the hearing scheduled for the 23rd, former National Security Advisor Shin Won-sik and former Defense Counterintelligence Command chief Yeo In-hyung will be called as witnesses to reconstruct the situation at the time of Martial Law. At the hearing on the 9th of next month, the court will also discuss summoning former Presidential Security Service Chief Park Jong-joon and others for testimony.
Cho is accused of dereliction of duty for failing to report to the National Assembly even though he allegedly knew in advance of the Martial Law declaration plan before former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s public address to the nation. Under the National Intelligence Service Act, the NIS director must promptly report to the National Assembly Intelligence Committee whenever a situation arises that has a significant impact on national security.
In addition, the special prosecutor’s team concluded that Cho also committed dereliction of duty when he failed to report to the National Assembly after receiving a report from Hong that Martial Law troops were "moving around to arrest" Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung and People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon.
Cho also faces a charge of violating the ban on political involvement for allegedly providing closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage showing the movements of former First Deputy Director Hong during Martial Law only to the People Power Party, while not providing CCTV footage showing his own movements to the Democratic Party of Korea after Martial Law was lifted.
theknight@fnnews.com Jung Kyung-soo Reporter