Special Prosecutor Team Says DCC Has Been Preparing for Martial Law Since First Half of 2024

\r\n[Financial News] The Second Comprehensive Special Prosecutor Team said it has further confirmed signs that the Defense Counterintelligence Command (DCC) was preparing for the Dec. 3 martial law declaration.
At a regular briefing at the team’s office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on the afternoon of the 4th, Assistant Special Prosecutor Kim Ji-mi said, "Through questioning of DCC officials, we confirmed signs that the DCC had been preparing for martial law since the first half of 2024."
The Special Prosecutor's Team for Insurrection, which previously investigated the same allegations, had concluded that former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, was not an impulsive act. Instead, it was a carefully prepared move carried out with former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and others since before October 2023.
As evidence for that conclusion, the team cited notes in the notebook of former Defense Intelligence Command chief Roh Sang-won, including a memo on personnel appointments for military commanders such as corps commanders, which was later reflected in the actual military personnel reshuffle in October 2023.
The special prosecutor team said it questioned a total of 43 people last week, including two suspects, in connection with the overall case under investigation.
Among the 43 people questioned was Kim Kwan-young, governor of Jeonbuk State, who is accused of aiding insurrection. The team said it will decide on final measures, including whether to detain him, after closely reviewing the investigation results.
The team also said it recently raided the SPO to investigate allegations that former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung was involved in the Dec. 3 martial law declaration. It added that it plans to carry out another raid soon on the prosecution’s internal network server, Epros, in Gwangju.
Regarding the alleged route change in the Seoul-Yangpyeong Expressway project, the team questioned two officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport as witnesses. It also said the search of the Presidential Archives is still under way.
In the investigation into allegations that the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification intervened to suppress overseas gambling cases, the team completed witness interviews with six police officials from Chuncheon Police Station and the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency who were involved in the case.
Meanwhile, the team said it has imposed a one-month pay cut on a special investigator and former lawyer identified as A, after he sparked controversy by exposing investigative secrets on his social media account.
In response, Assistant Special Prosecutor Kim said, "We issued a notice urging staff to refrain from using social media as much as possible, and we used this incident to emphasize security management once again."
kyu0705@fnnews.com Kim Dong-gyu Reporter