Choo Kyung-ho: "Special Prosecutor and Democratic Party Must Stop Political Oppression... I Will Prove the Charges Are Baseless"

"Forcibly Constructed Charges and Unreasonable Indictment"

Choo Kyung-ho, a member of the People Power Party, on December 7 called on the special prosecutor who indicted him on charges of participating in important insurrection-related duties to stop political oppression.

Rep. Choo Kyung-ho of the People Power Party was released from the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, on the 3rd after his arrest warrant was dismissed. Photo by Yonhap News

Following his indictment by the special prosecutor that day, Choo issued a statement saying, "From the very beginning, the outcome of the special prosecutor's investigation was predetermined, and they have forcibly constructed charges and pushed ahead with an unreasonable indictment." He added, "The special prosecutor and the political forces behind them, including the Democratic Party of Korea, must immediately cease further political oppression and intimidation of the judiciary."

He continued, "Even during the detention warrant review, the special prosecutor acknowledged that there was no prior collusion between myself and former President Yoon Seok-yeol regarding the imposition of martial law," and emphasized, "At that time, I never received any request from former President Yoon to cooperate in maintaining martial law during our phone call."

He further stated, "Despite the fact that the special prosecutor failed to substantiate the charges and the court dismissed the request for a detention warrant, they proceeded with a politically motivated indictment without any additional evidence," stressing, "I will clearly prove that the insurrection charges fabricated against me are entirely baseless."

Choi Sujin, Chief Spokesperson for the People Power Party's parliamentary group, also commented, "The court clearly stated its reasons for dismissing Choo's detention warrant, yet the special prosecutor has once again pressed ahead with a forced indictment based on a prearranged narrative," and insisted, "Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok should apologize for the unreasonable warrant request and step down, which is the only reasonable course of action."

She added, "This is not an investigation to uncover the truth, but political oppression charging toward a predetermined conclusion," and urged, "Attempts to drive the opposition party into a political frame by labeling it as an 'insurrectionist group' or an 'unconstitutional party,' and resorting to inflammatory politics, must stop immediately."

Previously, the special prosecutor's team requested a detention warrant for Choo on November 3, but after a pretrial detention hearing on December 2, the court dismissed the request.

Choo is accused of, as floor leader at the time of the martial law declaration last year, receiving a request from former President Yoon's side to cooperate with martial law, and then repeatedly changing the venue of the parliamentary caucus to obstruct other lawmakers from participating in the vote to lift martial law.