A civic group has filed a police complaint against Lee Jae-myung (right) and Ahn Gyu-baek for allegedly undermining national security due to the current administration's defense policy, which involves dismantling the Defense Counterintelligence Command and reorganizing military security functions. [Photo = Yonhap News]

A civic group has filed a police complaint against Lee Jae-myung and Ahn Gyu-baek for allegedly undermining national security due to the current administration's defense policy, which involves dismantling the Defense Counterintelligence Command and reorganizing military security functions.

The civic group, the Committee for People’s Livelihood Countermeasures (Suminwi), announced on the 30th that it had filed a joint complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency against Lee Jae-myung and Minister Ahn on charges of abuse of power, dereliction of duty, and coercion.

This complaint stems from the "national security undermining" controversy raised during the Ministry of National Defense's reorganization of counterintelligence functions since the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration.

On the 10th, the Ministry of National Defense officially announced the dissolution of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, citing the need for military organizational efficiency and the realignment of counterintelligence functions. This marks the first such change in 49 years, since the establishment of the Defense Security Command, the predecessor to the current command, in 1977.

Counterintelligence and defense-industry-related intelligence activities, as well as cyber security operations, will be transferred to the newly established Defense Counterintelligence Headquarters, scheduled to launch at the end of next month. A separate organization, the Defense Security Support Group, is also slated to be established to perform internal military security duties such as central security inspections for corps-level units and above, and investigations into security incidents.

Through this organizational restructuring, the staff of the Defense Counterintelligence Command is expected to be reduced by one-third. Approximately half of the current personnel will be reassigned to the Defense Counterintelligence Headquarters, while about 200 staff members involved in security investigations will move to the Ministry of National Defense's Investigation Headquarters. The number of general-grade officers in the command, which included the commander, will also be drastically reduced from seven to three.

Citing that this reorganization of counterintelligence functions and military structural reform could seriously undermine national security, Suminwi also included "general treason" in their complaint.

In the complaint, Suminwi argued, "Amid the volatile international situation, including the ongoing inter-Korean standoff and the emerging security threat posed by China, the dissolution of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, the dispersal of security investigation, counterintelligence, and security audit functions, and the abolition of intelligence-gathering and trend-monitoring capabilities constitute general treason."

Furthermore, Suminwi pointed out that other policies—including moving the civilian control line northward by an average of 2 km and reducing it by 6 km, lifting military regulations in border areas, outsourcing military security to private firms, and the hasty merger of military academies—are "acts that threaten not only public safety and national security but also undermine trust in the ROK-U.S. alliance."

Opposition parties and conservative groups have protested these measures, arguing that they could weaken military readiness. The ongoing debate over defense policy has recently manifested in public petitions submitted to the National Assembly for the impeachment of Lee Jae-myung and Ahn Gyu-baek.

Meanwhile, the public petition calling for the impeachment of Lee Jae-myung surpassed 230,000 signatures in just five days.

Under the public petition system, if a request garners more than 50,000 signatures within 30 days, it is referred to the relevant standing committee of the National Assembly for review.

Suminwi Donation Account: Post Office 010108-01-014472

Account Holder: Committee for People’s Livelihood Countermeasures

Reporter Lim Yo-hee