▲ Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kim Myung-soo
The arrest warrant for former Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Kim Myung-soo, who is suspected of involvement in an insurrection, has been denied.
Judge Bu Dong-sik of the Seoul Central District Court, presiding over the warrant review, denied the arrest warrant requested by the special counsel team led by Kwon Chang-young today (June 15). Following the suspect's questioning, the judge stated, "There is room for contention regarding the primary criminal charges, necessitating the protection of the right to defense, and there is no concern of flight or destruction of evidence."
Meanwhile, arrest warrants were issued for Lee Jae-sik, former JCS Chief of Combat Readiness Inspection; Jeong Jin-pal, former Deputy Chairman of the JCS; and Kim Heung-jun, former Policy Chief of the Army Headquarters, all of whom underwent warrant reviews today.
Judge Bu cited "concerns of evidence destruction" as the reason for their detention.
Kim and the others are accused of participating in an insurrection during the declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024. They allegedly watched from the JCS command and control center as military troops were deployed to the National Assembly and other locations without taking action to stop it, and participated in forming the Martial Law Command.
The special counsel team booked Kim and the others on charges including engaging in important duties of insurrection as its "first recognized case" in March, about two weeks after the team's launch, and has continued its investigation since.
The special counsel team believes that Kim, who held military command authority, failed to take appropriate measures despite being aware of the illegality of the martial law declaration and the deployment of troops to the National Assembly.
During the investigation, the team secured testimonies that Kim had received multiple reports from staff during martial law stating that "there are issues with the martial law declaration procedure" and that "troops deployed to the National Assembly must be withdrawn." They also obtained evidence that he received legal advice stating, "Even if martial law is declared, military command authority remains with the JCS."
The special counsel team also views Kim's issuance of fragmentary orders to the Army Special Warfare Command and the Capital Defense Command, instructing them to "prioritize martial law affairs," as evidence of his participation in the insurrection.
Kim's side has consistently denied the charges, arguing that the Minister of National Defense directly commanded and controlled the martial law troops immediately upon the declaration, and that the Chairman was excluded from the decision-making process, leaving him unable to exercise command over the martial law forces.
Jeong, the former Deputy Commander of the Martial Law Command, along with Lee, the former Chief of Planning and Coordination, and Kim, the former Policy Chief, are also suspected of preparing for a second martial law declaration even after the National Assembly passed a resolution demanding the lifting of the emergency martial law.
Allegations have been raised that Lee ordered the Army's 2nd Rapid Response Division to prepare for deployment, and that Kim checked the available personnel for deployment at the Capital Defense Command.
Records also emerged showing that Kim had multiple contacts with former Intelligence Command Chief Noh Sang-won between September and December 2024, prior to the declaration of emergency martial law.
As the special counsel team failed to secure the detention of the former JCS Chairman at a critical juncture despite three months of intensive investigation into his alleged involvement in the insurrection, some observers suggest that the future schedule of the related investigation may face setbacks.
The special counsel team is expected to decide whether to re-request an arrest warrant after carefully reviewing the reasons for the court's denial of Kim's warrant.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.