Kim Tae-hyo, former first deputy director of the National Security Office at the Presidential Office, has been arrested on charges of involvement in delivering messages explaining the legitimacy of martial law to allied nations during the December 3 emergency martial law.
According to the legal community on the 11th, Boo Dong-sik, a senior judge in charge of insurrection warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, issued the arrest warrant requested by the Kwon Chang-young Special Counsel Team's second comprehensive investigation unit, citing "concerns over destruction of evidence," after conducting a pre-detention interrogation of Kim on the 10th.
Kim faces charges of informing the United States and other major allied nations of the legitimacy of martial law through a foreign affairs official immediately after the martial law declaration (engaging in an important duty during an insurrection and abuse of authority to obstruct the exercise of rights).
The messages delivered at the time reportedly included content such as "This measure is for the defense of liberal democracy" and "This was a political demonstration conducted within the framework of the Constitution."
The special counsel team believes former President Yoon Suk-yeol instructed former National Security Office Director Shin Won-sik and Kim to explain the background of the martial law declaration immediately after it was announced. Accordingly, the team has continued its investigation, including searching Kim's home and university research office in April.
The allegations began in January last year with concerns raised by Chung Dong-young, the current Minister of Unification. According to the account, Kim called then-U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Philip Goldberg immediately after martial law was lifted and explained that "martial law was inevitable to eradicate anti-state forces that destroyed Korea's judicial and administrative systems through legislative dictatorship."
Kim acknowledged that he received Ambassador Goldberg's call about an hour after the martial law declaration, but explained that he told the ambassador to "watch the situation together" before hanging up the phone.
Kim was regarded as a key figure in the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's foreign affairs and security team. After joining Yoon's presidential campaign, he served as first deputy director of the National Security Office following the administration's launch, overseeing major foreign affairs and security policies and strategies, including South Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation.
After Yoon was removed from office over the December 3 emergency martial law incident, Kim returned to teaching as a university professor following the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration.
With the special counsel team securing Kim's custody, the investigation surrounding the alleged delivery of martial law justification messages is expected to accelerate.
Earlier, allegations also surfaced that the National Intelligence Service (NIS), which had received martial law justification documents from the National Security Office, explained the related content to the head of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The special counsel team is examining whether former NIS Director Cho Tae-yong and former NIS first deputy director Hong Jang-won gave instructions in this process.
The special counsel team's investigation period runs until the 24th. However, an amendment to the special counsel act extending the investigation period by 30 days is currently pending in the National Assembly, meaning the investigation is expected to continue until the end of next month barring any unexpected developments.
