Police, prosecution launch martial law investigation teams

This photo shows a document requesting a police investigation into President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration being submitted to the National Police Agency in Seoul, Dec. 5. Yonhap

The police and the prosecution launched separate investigation teams Friday to handle charges related to President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived declaration of martial law this week.

Police said they established a designated investigation team made up of some 120 personnel to look into four complaints accusing Yoon and others of treason, mutiny and abuse of power in connection with his imposition and subsequent lifting of martial law Tuesday.

As part of their investigation, police on Friday seized mobile phones of three key figures: Cho Ji-ho, head of the Korean National Police Agency; Kim Bong-sik, commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency; and Mok Hyun-tae, head of the National Assembly Police Guards.

Cho and Kim are among those accused of treason in light of the martial law fiasco.

The prosecution said they have also formed a special investigation headquarters headed by Park Se-hyun, chief of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, to handle similar complaints. The headquarters will be set up inside the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, with 20 prosecutors and about 30 investigators on hand.

They will be joined by about a dozen military prosecutors and investigators in a joint collaborative effort apparently aimed at better assessing an event that involved senior military officials and the brief deployment of troops.

Considering the gravity of the case, the special investigation team is expected to report directly to Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung.

The prosecutors had last operated a special headquarters in 2016, when they investigated alleged manipulation of state affairs by Choi Soon-sil, a friend of then President Park Geun-hye. The police and the prosecution launched separate investigation teams Friday to handle charges related to President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived declaration of martial law this week.

Police said they established a designated investigation team made up of some 120 personnel to look into four complaints accusing Yoon and others of treason, mutiny and abuse of power in connection with Yoon's imposition and subsequent lifting of martial law Tuesday.

The prosecution said they have also formed a special investigation headquarters headed by Park Se-hyun, chief of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, to handle similar complaints. (Yonhap)