Choo Kyung-ho: "I Will Stand Up Proudly"... Appears for Investigation as Suspect in Martial Law Special Probe

Choo Kyungho: "Brazen political oppression... I will stand firm and face it with confidence"
Special prosecutor suspects obstruction of vote participation due to repeated changes in assembly location

Choo Kyung-ho, former floor leader of the People Power Party, appeared before Special Prosecutor Jo Eun-seok's team on the 30th in connection with allegations of interfering with lawmakers' participation in the vote to lift martial law.

People Power Party's former floor leader Choo Kyung-ho is appearing as a suspect on the 30th at the office of Special Prosecutor Jo Eun-seok's team for the special investigation on insurrection, located at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

Arriving at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, where the special prosecutor's team is located, at around 9:54 a.m. that day, Choo stated, "I will stand up proudly and not yield to this outrageous political oppression," adding, "On the day martial law was declared, after speaking with the Prime Minister and the President, I changed the location of the party caucus from the party headquarters to the National Assembly and moved there with other lawmakers."

He continued, "If I had intended to obstruct the vote in collusion with the President, why would I have changed the caucus venue to the National Assembly and moved there, instead of staying at the party headquarters? Today, I will face the special prosecutor with confidence," he said.

Choo is suspected of having obstructed other lawmakers from participating in the vote to lift martial law by repeatedly changing the location of the party caucus at the request of former President Yoon Suk-yeol's side during the declaration of martial law last year. After the martial law was declared, Choo convened an emergency caucus and changed the location three times: from the National Assembly to party headquarters, back to the National Assembly, and then again to party headquarters.

The special prosecutor's team has also secured records of Choo's phone calls with former President Yoon and others immediately after the declaration of martial law and is investigating these. At the time, while traveling from his home to the National Assembly, Choo reportedly called former Senior Presidential Secretary for Political Affairs Hong Cheol-ho and former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo in succession, and then also spoke with former President Yoon.

However, Choo's side maintains that he was not aware of the martial law in advance and did not discuss obstructing the vote with former President Yoon.

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