5·18 Investigation Committee to Conduct Face-to-Face Interviews with Key New Military Figures Including Jeon Du-hwan During 5·18 Incident

Sent Investigation Letters to 5 Individuals Including Jeon Du-hwan, Roh Tae-woo, Lee Hee-seong, Hwang Young-si, and Jung Ho-yong

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] The 5·18 Democratic Movement Truth Investigation Committee (Chairman Song Seontae) is tightening its efforts to secure the substantive truth of the 5·18 Democratic Movement.

On the 2nd, the 5·18 Investigation Committee announced that on the 1st, it sent letters for full-scale face-to-face investigations to five key figures of the new military regime during the 5·18 period, including Jeon Du-hwan.

Despite prosecution investigations and trials from 1995 to 1997, important issues such as identifying the person who gave the shooting order and the secret burial have not been properly clarified, and the military leadership responsible for command at the time has consistently avoided responsibility, denying and remaining silent.

Accordingly, the committee is known to have judged that it can no longer delay investigations into these key responsible figures in order to secure the substantive truth of the 5·18 Democratic Movement.

The committee’s first priority investigation targets are five individuals: Jeon Du-hwan, then acting Commander of the Security Command of the Republic of Korea Army, Head of the Joint Investigation Headquarters, and Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency; Roh Tae-woo, Commander of the Capital Security Command; Lee Hee-seong, Martial Law Commander; Hwang Young-shi, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army; and Jung Ho-yong, Special Forces Commander.

They are elderly individuals whose investigation is urgent and who have denied facts related to 5·18 in court testimonies and publications so far.

The committee plans to conduct on-site investigations considering the age and health of the investigation targets.

If the targets refuse to cooperate with the investigation, according to the provisions of the “Special Act on the Truth Investigation of the 5·18 Democratic Movement,” the committee may issue an accompanying order, request prosecution and investigation from the Prosecutor General, and request the National Assembly’s resolution to appoint a special prosecutor.

Chairman Song Seontae said, “We can no longer delay investigations into key targets to uncover the unfinished truth that was not revealed even in the Supreme Court’s ruling in April 1997,” and added, “We hope that the investigation targets will now reveal the truth before the people and history, apologize, and contribute to national unity through forgiveness and reconciliation.”

Meanwhile, the 5·18 Investigation Committee plans to sequentially continue investigations into 35 military commanders of the time, starting with these key investigation targets.

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