South Korea: Special counsel to question ex-Defence Minister next week in martial law probe

Seoul, Aug 6 A special counsel team plans to question former South Korean Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun next week over his alleged role in the botched martial law episode, judicial sources said Wednesday.

Special prosecutor Cho Eun-suk's team will visit a detention facility in eastern Seoul, where Kim is being held in custody, at around 2 p.m. Monday to question him as a witness as part of an investigation into jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration late last year, according to the sources familiar with the matter.

Cho's team is investigating charges of insurrection and other offences stemming from the martial law fiasco.

The special counsel is said to be planning to grill Kim over suspicions he informed former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min that the martial law decree would be imposed before Yoon announced such a decision at a Cabinet meeting on December 3.

Last week, Lee was arrested on charges of aiding and abetting the martial law imposition by instructing the police and fire agency to cut off power and water to media outlets critical of the then administration.

Kim was also arrested in December on charges of playing a key role in the martial law episode, Yonhap news agency reported.

Meanwhile, another special counsel team investigating the alleged cover-up of the truth behind the death of a Marine officer in 2023 also plans to visit the Seoul detention centre on August 18 to question the former Defence Minister, according to the sources.

Earlier on Wednesday, Special Counsel Lee Myeong-hyeon's team raided South Korea’s Foreign Ministry over allegations that former Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup was abruptly allowed to leave the country last year to avoid an investigation into suspected government interference in the military probe into the death of a marine in 2023.

The team has been investigating the circumstances surrounding Lee's sudden appointment as the Ambassador to Australia on March 4 last year, when he was under probe by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) over his alleged involvement in the external intervention in the marine death case. At the time of his appointment, Lee was under a travel ban due to the CIO probe, but the Justice Ministry lifted the ban on March 7.

Lee immediately departed for Australia but returned home 11 days later as controversy mounted over his abrupt departure. At that time, critics raised suspicions that former President Yoon had attempted to have Lee flee overseas by appointing him as the envoy to Australia.

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