Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Kim Myung-soo, who is suspected of participating in sedition during the state of emergency martial law, leaves the courtroom after his warrant examination at the Seoul Central District Court on the 15th. [Yonhap News]

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Kim Myung-soo, who is suspected of involvement in sedition, has avoided arrest.

The Judge presiding over the sedition warrant review at the Seoul Central District Court stated on the 15th, after conducting the suspect interrogation prior to arrest (warrant examination) for former Chairman Kim, that "there is room for argument regarding the main charges, necessitating the protection of the right to defense, and there is no concern of flight or destruction of evidence," and thus rejected the arrest warrant requested by the special prosecutor's team led by Second Comprehensive Special Prosecutor Kwon Chang-young.

Arrest warrants were issued for former Deputy Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for Combat Readiness Inspection Lee Jae-sik, former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Jeong Jin-pal, and former Chief of Policy for the Army Headquarters Kim Heung-jun, who underwent warrant examinations in succession on the same day. The presiding judge cited "concern for the destruction of evidence" as the reason.

Former Chairman Kim and others are accused of participating in sedition by observing the situation of military deployment to the National Assembly and other locations from the Joint Chiefs of Staff's command and control center at the time of the state of emergency martial law declaration on December 3, 2024, without preventing it and by jointly forming the martial law command.

The special prosecutor's team had identified former Chairman Kim and others as suspects in their first recognized case approximately two weeks after their inauguration in March, investigating them for charges including involvement in important sedition missions.

The special prosecutor's team views that former Chairman Kim, who held military command authority, was aware of the illegality of the martial law declaration and the military deployment to the National Assembly but failed to take appropriate action.

During the investigation, it was also secured that former Chairman Kim received reports multiple times from his staff during the martial law period stating, "There are issues with the martial law declaration procedures" and "Troops deployed to the National Assembly must be withdrawn," and received legal advice that "even if martial law is declared, military command authority rests with the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

The special prosecutor's team considers the brief orders issued by former Chairman Kim to the Special Warfare Command and the Capital Defense Command to "prioritize martial law affairs" as evidence of his involvement in sedition.

Kim's side has consistently denied the charges, arguing that the Minister of National Defense directly commanded and controlled the martial law troops upon the declaration of martial law, and the Chairman was excluded from the decision-making process and thus unable to exercise command over the martial law forces.

There are also suspicions that former Vice Chairman Jeong, who was the deputy commander of the martial law command, and former Deputy Chairman Lee, who was the head of the Planning and Coordination Office, along with former Chief of Staff Kim, prepared for a second martial law even after a motion to lift the state of emergency martial law was passed by the National Assembly.

Allegations have surfaced that former Deputy Chairman Lee ordered the Second Rapid Response Division of the Army to prepare for deployment, and former Chief of Staff Kim confirmed the available personnel for deployment at the Capital Defense Command. Records show that former Chief of Staff Kim had multiple contacts with former Intelligence Commander Roh Sang-won between September and December 2024, prior to the declaration of emergency martial law.

Despite the special prosecutor's team dedicating three months to investigating former Chairman Kim's alleged involvement in sedition since their inauguration, their failure to secure his custody at a crucial juncture has led to speculation that future investigation schedules may be disrupted.

The special prosecutor's team is expected to thoroughly review the reasons for the rejection of former Chairman Kim's arrest warrant and then decide whether to reapply for the warrant.