The second special counsel team, led by Kwon Chang-young, has moved to detain Kim Tae-hyo, the former first deputy director of the National Security Office, who is suspected of conveying messages justifying the martial law declaration.
The special counsel team said Sunday it had requested an arrest warrant for Kim on charges of playing a key role in insurrection and abuse of power to obstruct the exercise of rights. Kim is suspected of sending messages justifying the martial law to major allies including the United States immediately after the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration.
The messages at the time reportedly contained content such as "this measure is to defend liberal democracy" and "it was a political demonstration within the boundaries of the constitution in response to the National Assembly paralyzing the executive branch through impeachment motions and budget cuts, and attempting the actual destruction of the Republic of Korea's constitutional order."
The special counsel team explained that it did not request a warrant for Shin Won-sik, the former director of the National Security Office, judging his degree of involvement to be relatively minor. The pre-detention questioning of Kim is expected to be held as early as later this week.
