Former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung arriving at the special counsel office (Gwacheon = Yonhap News) Reporter Ryu Young-seok = Former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung, suspected of suppressing an investigation involving First Lady Kim Keon-hee, arrives at the Second Comprehensive Special Counsel Office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on the 10th for questioning as a suspect. 2026.7.10 ondol@yna.co.kr

The Second Comprehensive Special Counsel team led by Kwon Chang-young, which is investigating remaining allegations following the third special counsel probe, has moved to take former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung into custody over his alleged participation in the insurrection.

On the 13th, the special counsel team announced, "We have requested arrest warrants for former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung and former Supreme Prosecutors' Office Planning and Coordination Department Chief (Chief Prosecutor) Jeon Mu-gon on charges of engaging in important duties of insurrection and abuse of power."

Former Prosecutor General Shim is suspected of reviewing the deployment of prosecutors to the Martial Law Joint Investigation Headquarters under the direction of former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae on December 3, 2024, the day the emergency martial law was declared.

After attending the Cabinet meeting on the day of the martial law declaration, former Minister Park returned to the Ministry of Justice and convened a meeting of senior officials.

Allegations have been raised that during this meeting, which was attended by 10 Ministry of Justice office and bureau chiefs, former Minister Park instructed the Prosecution Bureau to "consider the deployment of prosecutors to the Joint Investigation Headquarters."

It was found that former Minister Park had three phone conversations with former Prosecutor General Shim between 11 p.m. on the day of the martial law declaration and the following dawn.

This has led to suspicions that former Minister Park might have also ordered former Prosecutor General Shim to dispatch prosecutors to the Joint Investigation Headquarters.

The court also indicated in the previous trial of former Minister Park that former Prosecutor General Shim’s involvement in the insurrection was suspected.

On the 22nd, the 33rd Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Jin-kwan) sentenced former Minister Park to 25 years in prison on charges including engaging in important duties of insurrection.

The court determined that immediately after the declaration of martial law, former Minister Park called former Prosecutor General Shim to order the dispatch of prosecutors and other personnel, and that former Prosecutor General Shim had subsequently directed the relevant departments to carry out the order.

Under the Prosecutors' Office Act, a Minister of Justice must consult with the Prosecutor General when intending to dispatch prosecutors to an external agency; given this, the court concluded that there was a necessity for former Minister Park to direct former Prosecutor General Shim to cooperate with the personnel deployment.

'Former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung arrives regarding the 'Kim Keon-hee investigation suppression' scandal (Gwacheon = Yonhap News) Reporter Ryu Young-seok = Former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung, suspected of suppressing an investigation involving First Lady Kim Keon-hee, arrives at the Second Comprehensive Special Counsel Office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on the 10th for questioning as a suspect. 2026.7.10 ondol@yna.co.kr

Former Prosecutor General Shim is also suspected of being involved in discussing response plans for crimes that would fall under the jurisdiction of military courts immediately after the martial law declaration and in drafting a document titled "Trial Jurisdiction Under Emergency Martial Law."

The special counsel team previously announced that they had secured the document titled "Trial Jurisdiction Under Emergency Martial Law" during a search and seizure of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

The document specifies the emergency martial law decree and outlines the subsequent judicial and investigative jurisdictions thereunder.

Following the search and seizure, the special counsel team secured testimonies from Supreme Prosecutors' Office officials to the effect that "there were discussions on how to respond to crimes that would fall under the jurisdiction of military courts if martial law were to actually proceed."

As the Chief of the Planning and Coordination Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office at the time of the martial law declaration, former Chief Prosecutor Jeon Mu-gon served as an aide to former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung.

He is known to have been involved in the drafting of the trial jurisdiction document and the discussions regarding judicial jurisdiction under martial law.

Former Chief Prosecutor Jeon Mu-gon [Yonhap News file photo]

Based on these circumstances, the special counsel team determined that the command structure of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, including former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung, had participated in or colluded with the unconstitutional and illegal declaration of martial law, and thus applied charges including engaging in important duties of insurrection.

The arrest warrant review (substantive review of the suspect) for former Prosecutor General Shim and others is expected to take place as early as the end of this week.

The special counsel team’s investigation deadline expires on the 24th.

The team has requested the National Assembly to extend the special counsel law, primarily calling for a "third extension of the investigation period."

Former Prosecutor General Shim is also under investigation by the special counsel team regarding allegations of suppressing the investigation involving First Lady Kim Keon-hee.

However, it is understood that the current arrest warrant does not include charges related to that matter. [Yonhap News]