Special Committee on Internal Affairs Investigation to Hold Additional Hearings on 21st and 25th... Yoon and Myeong Taegyun Adopted as Witnesses

Fierce Ruling and Opposition Clash Over Witness Selection
Opposition Adopts 136 Witnesses as Ruling Party Walks Out

On the 13th, Ahn Kyu-baek, the chairman, is speaking at the plenary meeting of the Special Committee for the National Investigation into the Alleged Rebellion Charges through the Emergency Decree Declaration of the Yoon Seok-yeol Administration, held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News.

The National Assembly's 'Special Committee for the National Investigation into the Alleged Insurrection Charges through the Declaration of Martial Law by the Yoon Seok-yeol Administration (Special Committee)' has decided to hold two more hearings on the 21st and 25th of this month.

On the 13th, the Special Committee held a plenary session and, by bipartisan agreement, passed the proposal to change the committee's operational schedule.

On the 21st, the hearing will focus on the Ministry of National Defense and military-related personnel, and on the 25th, it will center on executive branch officials, including those from the Presidential Office and the Prime Minister's Office.

The Special Committee's original activity period was until that day, but following the passage of an extension bill at the National Assembly plenary session the previous day, the committee will continue its activities until the 28th.

The Special Committee has added 136 additional witnesses, including President Yoon Seok-yeol, former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, and former Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung. Two individuals, reporter Bong Ji-wook from Newstapa and lawyer Noh Young-hee, were selected as reference persons.

On this day, the ruling and opposition parties clashed over the list of witnesses.

The ruling party argued that Kim Hyun-tae, commander of the Army's 707 Special Mission Group who carried out operations on the front lines during the declaration of martial law, should be called as a witness, but the opposition party opposed this.

Joo Jin-woo, a member of the People Power Party, pointed out, "Commander Kim is a witness jointly requested by both ruling and opposition parties," adding, "Why is only Commander Kim being excluded as if there is something to hide?" He emphasized that since Commander Kim gave testimony unfavorable to President Yoon, he should be summoned as a witness for verification.

The Special Committee recessed for bipartisan consultations but failed to narrow the differences in positions, and ultimately, with all ruling party members leaving the meeting room, the opposition-led motion to summon witnesses and reference persons was passed.

A large number of additional witnesses were added, including 'political broker' Myung Tae-gyun, mid- and senior-ranking officers from the Counterintelligence Command, Intelligence Command, and Defense Security Command, security officers from the Presidential Security Service, and agents from the National Intelligence Service.

Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok, former Special Forces Commander Kwak Jong-geun, former Defense Security Command Commander Lee Jin-woo, and Commander Kim were excluded from the witness list.

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