Ministry of National Defense: "Noh Sang-won Has Never Attended Military Staff Meetings"

"Pure civilians cannot attend"

The Ministry of National Defense has refuted the claim made by former Minister Kim Yong-hyun's side that "former Commander of the Defense Intelligence Command No Sang-won advised former Minister Kim through official procedures such as military council meetings."

A Ministry of National Defense official stated on the 27th, "Pure civilians cannot attend military council meetings at all, and therefore are not subjects of consultation." The military council reviews major defense policies that the Minister of National Defense wishes to discuss. Attendees include the Minister, Vice Minister, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Chiefs of Staff of each military branch, the Marine Corps Commander, and senior officials of the Ministry of National Defense.

Former Intelligence Command Chief Noh Sang-won, accused of premeditating the emergency martial law on December 3 and drafting the proclamation, is being transferred to the prosecution on the 24th at the Seoul Western Police Station in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

Former Minister Kim's legal team claimed at a press conference the previous day, "The Minister of National Defense can hold military council meetings as an advisory body and has procedures to invite outsiders for consultation," adding, "Former Minister Kim received lawful advice from former Commander No Sang-won within the scope prescribed by law."

Former Commander No is suspected of being involved throughout the emergency martial law planning process.

A Ministry of National Defense official explained, "During the tenure of the previous minister, there was one military council meeting, but pure civilians, including the mentioned civilian (No Sang-won), did not attend," adding, "There has never been a case where pure civilians attended military council meetings before." Furthermore, "According to the operational regulations for defense policy review meetings, there is a clause allowing expert opinions to be heard, but only experts affiliated with the Korea Defense Research Institute, the Agency for Defense Development, or the Security Studies Institute of the Korea National Defense University may be present; others are not allowed."

In response to opposition party claims that "Hong Chang-sik, Legal Affairs Officer of the Ministry of National Defense, and Woo Dong-ho, Inspection Officer of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, should be excluded from their duties for obstructing investigations into the Counterintelligence Command and sympathizing with rebellion," the Ministry issued a rebuttal. A Ministry of National Defense official stated, "We are cooperating with investigations by the prosecution, police, and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, and are taking necessary measures such as suspending related personnel depending on the investigation status," adding, "We absolutely cannot agree with claims that the Ministry of National Defense is 'blocking investigations' or 'supporting rebellion.'"

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