Special Prosecutor Investigates Multiple People Power lawmakers for Alleged Obstruction of Martial Law Vote… "Possibility of Accomplices"

"Coordination underway for Chun Kyo-hwan's investigation schedule… Significant progress made in factual investigation"

"If strong possibility of accomplices, suspect investigation is possible… No detention orders planned"

Special Prosecutor Assistant Park Ji-young briefing (Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Yoon Dong-jin = Special Prosecutor Assistant Park Ji-young is speaking at a briefing held at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu on the 15th. 2025.7.15 mon@yna.co.kr

The special prosecutor's team investigating allegations that National Assembly members obstructed the vote to lift martial law in connection with the December 3rd emergency martial law announced that it has completed investigations into a significant number of key individuals necessary to prove the charges against former People Power Party floor leader Chun Kyo-hwan, and is not ruling out the possibility of some lawmakers being considered accomplices.

At a briefing today, Special Prosecutor Assistant Park Ji-young stated regarding the allegations of obstructing the National Assembly's martial law lifting vote, "A significant number of investigations have been completed for individuals crucial in determining the presence or absence of Chun's charges," adding, "There is substantial information to consider from the investigation, and the necessary investigation for factual determination has reached a certain level."

Furthermore, it was stated that although a summons request was recently notified to Chun, he conveyed an opinion requesting the determination of the investigation date and time considering his National Assembly schedule, and thus the specific summoning schedule is still under coordination.

Regarding the possibility of other People Power Party lawmakers who did not participate in the martial law lifting vote being converted to suspects, he responded, "There is no need to endlessly expand the number of suspects. The special prosecution is fundamentally conducting a restrained investigation within the necessary scope," while adding, "It is a possible situation to conduct suspect investigations focusing on individuals with a genuine possibility of being accomplices."

He further added, "It is difficult to specify individuals, but we are not completely ruling out the possibility of accomplices," and "That aspect is also currently under investigation."

Regarding the possibility of an arrest warrant being sought for Chun, he stated, "We have not established a specific plan as the evidence and whether to prosecute will be finally determined through the investigation," and drew a line, saying, "It is also currently unknown how many investigations will be conducted."

Chun is suspected of obstructing other lawmakers' participation in the vote to lift martial law by changing the location of the party caucus multiple times at the request of former President Yoon Suk-yeol's side during the emergency martial law declaration last year.

The special prosecutor's team has already indicted him as a suspect on charges of engaging in important duties for rebellion and obstruction of the exercise of rights through abuse of power.

Meanwhile, regarding former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae, whose summoning and investigation are scheduled for the 23rd, the special prosecutor's team plans to take time to thoroughly re-examine his testimony and evidence rather than immediately seeking an arrest warrant again.

Special Prosecutor Assistant Park explained, "As the court's reasons for dismissing the warrant relate to awareness of illegality, we are focusing on collecting evidence that suggests awareness of illegality," adding, "This is a process of comprehensively re-examining and collecting physical and human evidence from all directions."

It has been reported that during his reference investigation the previous day, Senior Superintendent General of Human Rights of the Ministry of Justice Seung Jae-hyun testified that former Minister Park did not respond to opinions expressed at a meeting of ministry division and bureau chiefs immediately after the martial law declaration, stating that legal review of the proclamation's unconstitutionality was necessary.

Seung is one of the attendees of the meeting of the Ministry of Justice's division and bureau chiefs convened by former Minister Park immediately after the martial law declaration. He reportedly voiced an opinion at the time that the martial law proclamation had constitutional and legal flaws. Seung, who has worked as a research fellow at the Korea Institute of Criminal Justice Policy, was appointed to the open-recruitment position of Human Rights Director in 2023. Yonhap News