CIO Refers Won Chunhee, Lieutenant General, to Military Prosecution Over Alleged Martial Law Conspiracy

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which is investigating the 12·3 Martial Law Incident, has referred Won Chunhee, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Ministry of National Defense (Lieutenant General), to the military prosecution after questioning him. Director Won is suspected of having conspired in advance to declare martial law.

Yonhap News

The CIO's Martial Law Task Force (headed by Lee Daehwan, Chief Prosecutor of Investigation Division 4) announced on May 27 that it had transferred Director Won's insurrection case to the military prosecution on May 23.

The CIO sent the case through a simple transfer, not with a request for indictment. At a regular briefing that day, a CIO official stated, "We transferred 2,500 pages of records produced through our own investigation, along with records previously received from the police," and added, "As we are not in a position to indict, the military prosecution will likely determine later whether charges are warranted." The CIO had previously searched Director Won's office and residence, and summoned him for questioning in March.

Director Won is suspected of having discussed martial law on December 2, 2024, the day before the declaration, with Kim Yonghyun, then Minister of National Defense, and Moon Sangho, then Director of the Defense Security Command. Director Won explained, "I was merely present at a Defense Security Command budget briefing," and insisted, "There was no discussion of martial law."

Meanwhile, the CIO stated that the case in which former President Moon Jaein filed a complaint against Lee Changsoo, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, for alleged abuse of authority, has not yet been assigned to an investigative division.

Former President Moon filed a complaint with the CIO at the end of April, accusing Lee Changsoo (former Chief Prosecutor of the Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office) and Park Youngjin, the current Chief Prosecutor of the Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office, of abusing prosecutorial authority by investigating and indicting his former son-in-law, Mr. Seo, for alleged preferential hiring for political purposes. Subsequently, on May 20, Lee Changsoo tendered his resignation to the Ministry of Justice, citing health reasons and other factors.

Regarding this, when asked whether the Ministry of Justice had inquired about the acceptance of a resignation while an investigation is ongoing, a CIO official replied, "It is difficult to know what connection a complaint or investigation has to retirement. It is a matter for the relevant agency to decide." According to the Prosecutors' Disciplinary Act, when a prosecutor wishes to retire, the Minister of Justice must check with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to determine whether there are grounds for disciplinary action.

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