Gov’t task force urges tougher discipline for Army officers over martial law involvement
The defense ministry's Criminal Investigation Command building in Seoul / Yonhap
An interagency task force investigating public officials' involvement in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law bid will seek disciplinary action against a dozen senior Army officers embroiled in the incident, the defense ministry said Monday.
The high-level Army officers were believed to be among the 34 people aboard a bus that departed for Seoul from the Army headquarters in Gyeryong, South Chungcheong Province, shortly after the National Assembly voted to lift the Dec. 3 martial law decree last year. The bus returned about 30 minutes after departure.
The task force, which launched last month at the request of the office of Prime Minister Kim Min-seok and was installed under the respective ministries, will request the ministry's general counsel bureau to impose disciplinary actions on around 10 Army officers Monday, according to the ministry.
The task force is reviewing the results of the defense ministry's independent audit into the martial law involvement.
Last month, Brig. Gen. Kim Sang-hwan, chief of the Army's legal affairs office and one of those aboard the bus, was demoted to the rank of colonel over the incident.