Court: "Gimusa Must Partially Disclose Documents Created During Park Geun-hye Impeachment Crisis"

Citizens attending the 5th nationwide candlelight rally calling for the resignation of President Park Geun-hye hold candles at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on November 26, 2016.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A court ruling has been made to disclose some documents created by the Military Security Support Command (Anbosa, formerly the Defense Security Command) during the impeachment crisis of former President Park Geun-hye in 2016.

According to the legal community on the 1st, the Seoul Administrative Court Administrative Division 4 (Chief Judge Han Won-gyo) recently ruled partially in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by the Military Human Rights Center against the Defense Security Command, seeking to cancel the refusal to disclose information.

The court ruled to cancel the Defense Security Command’s refusal to disclose information regarding three documents created at the end of 2016: ▲Report 1 related to the current situation ▲Activities of reservists and security organizations related to the current situation ▲Recent activities of major conservative groups, stating that "these are not specially related to the Defense Security Command’s duties such as military security and the collection and processing of military intelligence." These documents included contents such as 'expert opinions on political measures the president could take to manage the situation,' 'activities of security organizations and reservists supporting the Minister of National Defense,' and 'registration status, activities of security and conservative groups, and support measures for these groups.'

Earlier, the Military Human Rights Center demanded on November 3, 2019, that 11 documents created by the Defense Security Command at the end of 2016 be disclosed, but the command refused. These documents were reportedly created for reporting to the Blue House National Security Office Chief and the Minister of National Defense during the candlelight rallies demanding the impeachment of former President Park and when the National Assembly passed the impeachment motion.

During the trial, the Anbosa side argued that "it could affect the investigation of former Defense Security Command Commander Cho Hyun-cheon, who was identified as the person who ordered the preparation of martial law documents." Former Commander Cho left for the United States after his discharge in 2017 and has been missing since.

However, the court did not accept this, stating, "Even if the contents of the three documents are disclosed, it does not appear to significantly hinder the performance of duties related to the relevant trials and investigations."

However, the court maintained the non-disclosure decision for eight other documents, including ▲Report 2 related to the current situation (police support), ▲Defense Security Command activity plans related to the current situation, ▲Recent military movements, and ▲Review of military measures in case the impeachment motion is passed, on the grounds that they were collected and created for the purpose of analyzing information related to national security.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.