Hong Jang-won with 'Arrest List Memo' "Curious Why They Tried to Arrest Me"

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Hong Jang-won, former First Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service, reiterated his claim that he wrote down the 'arrest team list memo' created during the December 3 martial law period exactly as former Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung dictated it, and explained the circumstances under which the memo was written. He said he was curious about the reason for arresting the individuals on the list and created the memo to avoid forgetting their names.

On the afternoon of the 20th, Hong, who appeared as a witness at the 10th hearing of President Yoon Seok-yeol's impeachment trial, testified, "Documents or memos are created based on their importance and necessity, and I was curious why the Counterintelligence Command wanted to arrest these people during the emergency martial law period," adding, "I didn't know at the time, but I thought I should pay attention to the list, so I made it to avoid forgetting the names."

Yonhap News

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Hong was re-summoned as a witness following the request of President Yoon's side after previously appearing as a witness at the 5th hearing on the 4th. In his earlier testimony, he said he wrote down the arrest list as dictated by former Counterintelligence Commander Yeo. When asked by the National Assembly side whether President Yoon said, "Arrest them all, give the National Intelligence Service the authority for counterespionage investigations, and assist the Republic of Korea Military Counterintelligence Command," Hong replied, "I remember it that way."

On this day, Hong carefully explained the circumstances under which he created four types of memos. He said, "At first, I received a phone call from former Commander Yeo and took notes. Since I had to attend a meeting at 11:30 p.m., I instructed my aide to organize the notes beforehand," adding, "The aide wrote down names and personal details densely on two pages, creating the second memo." He continued, "Around 4 p.m. on December 4, I had the aide rewrite the notes to review them, resulting in the third memo. The densely written second memo was discarded as it was unnecessary to keep," and explained, "I organized it myself here, marking stars and recalling the number of people as 14 to 16."

President Yoon's side launched an attack on the credibility of Hong's testimony again on this day, following the 4th. When asked where exactly he was when he took the memo while talking on the phone with former Commander Yeo, Hong said, "I thought it was an open space in front of the official residence, but after verifying my memory, the first time former Commander Yeo said she would dictate the arrest list was at 10:58 p.m. in the open space in front of the official residence, and I think I wrote it down in the office."

When President Yoon's side questioned, "Would the testimony at that time be accurate, or would the memory be precise after two months?" Hong countered, "I also checked the CCTV, and even if that is accurate, I still have some doubts."

Furthermore, President Yoon's side repeatedly pressured him, asking, "Did you write the memo for the purpose of creating a political foothold?" and "Is the reason you did not submit the original memo to the prosecution to provide it to the Democratic Party?" In response, Hong retorted, "What kind of political foothold could I create with that memo?" and a tense exchange ensued. President Yoon, listening to the remarks, closed his eyes and smiled.

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