Prosecutors Summon Former Minister Kim Yong-hyun, 'Core of Insurrection,' for Third Time... 9-Hour Investigation (Comprehensive)

Prosecutors Plan to Request Arrest Warrant Today
Former Minister Kim Claims 'No Illegality or Unconstitutionality'

The prosecution investigating the December 3 emergency martial law incident summoned former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun for the third time. The prosecution plans to request an arrest warrant for Kim within nine days.

Former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

According to the legal community, the Special Investigation Headquarters for Emergency Martial Law (headed by Seoul High Prosecutor Park Se-hyun) summoned former Minister Kim around 10 a.m. that day as a suspect on charges including rebellion and abuse of authority, and interrogated him for over nine hours.

The prosecution had previously interrogated Kim for about six hours after he voluntarily appeared around 1:30 a.m., then arrested him urgently and detained him at the Eastern Detention Center. Later that day around 5 p.m., Kim was summoned again for a second interrogation lasting about seven hours. The third interrogation reportedly concluded at 7:37 p.m. that day.

During the prosecution’s investigation, former Minister Kim reportedly largely acknowledged the facts related to the emergency martial law proposal but claimed that there was no illegality or unconstitutionality involved.

Kim is the person who proposed the declaration of emergency martial law to President Yoon Seok-yeol. He is also identified as having directed the announcement of the proclamation and the entry of martial law troops into the National Assembly and the Central Election Commission.

Deputy Minister of National Defense Kim Seon-ho and Army Chief of Staff Park An-su, who was the martial law commander, pointed to former Minister Kim as the person who ordered the deployment of martial law troops into the National Assembly.

Army Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun stated, "During the emergency martial law, I received orders from former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun to remove personnel from the National Assembly building."

The prosecution is expected to file an arrest warrant for former Minister Kim late in the evening. The warrant is said to include concerns about evidence destruction and flight risk, based on the fact that the crime of abuse of authority under direct prosecution can also involve charges of rebellion.

The crime of rebellion is a serious offense punishable by up to the death penalty, and the prosecution’s judgment is that there is a risk of evidence destruction and flight, considering that Kim replaced his mobile phone after the emergency martial law.

Following the summons and investigation of General Park and Defense Ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-gyu the previous day, the prosecution summoned former Commander Kwak as a witness that morning. They also conducted a search and seizure at the Military Counterintelligence Command and notified Military Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung to appear for questioning on the 10th. The police have also requested a summons for former Commander Yeo.

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