Police access security camera footage from safe house in probe of martial law plot

The presidential safe house in Samcheong-dong, Jongno District, Seoul, on Jan. 20, when the police special investigation unit on martial law conducted a search to secure related documents and security camera footage. Yonhap

In an unprecedented move, police investigators are reviewing security camera footage from a secret residence in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul, as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged efforts by former President Yoon Suk Yeol to impose martial law.

According to sources contacted by the Hankook Ilbo on Sunday, the special investigative unit on martial law under the National Office of Investigation has begun examining surveillance footage from the classified facility, often referred to as a “safe house,” following a voluntary submission by the Presidential Security Service.

The facility, which does not appear on public maps, was previously off-limits to investigative authorities.

The last time any such safe house was involved in a criminal investigation was following the short-lived Dec. 3 martial law imposition.

The footage is expected to shed light on who entered and exited the location around the time of the martial law order.

Yoon is accused of having summoned then-National Police Chief Cho Ji-ho and former Seoul Police Chief Kim Bong-sik to the safe house on the evening of Dec. 3, where he allegedly gave direct orders to block access to the National Assembly and detain lawmakers — actions at the heart of sedition charges now under investigation.

The following day, former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, Justice Minister Park Sung-jae, Korea Legislation Research Institute Director Lee Wan-kyu and Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs Kim Joo-hyun reportedly gathered at the same location for dinner.

Though the meeting was described as a “casual gathering,” critics have raised concerns about its timing and the participants' legal expertise, given that it came immediately after the alleged martial law directive.

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, on trial for sedition in connection with his martial law declaration on Dec. 3, speaks with his legal team at Courtroom 417 of the Seoul Central District Court, Wednesday. Yonhap

The Presidential Security Service, which had repeatedly blocked search warrants for the safe house and presidential office areas during the early stages of the investigation, reversed its position following the resignation of Deputy Chief Kim Sung-hoon amid internal dissent.

The agency’s new leadership, through its internal reform task force, agreed that “maximum cooperation” with legal investigations is necessary.

The police are also set to obtain security camera footage from the fifth floor of the presidential office in Yongsan — specifically, the main reception room and hallway where the symbolic Cabinet meeting allegedly took place just before the martial law declaration. The footage could help determine the movements of Cabinet members on the day of the declaration.

Although security camera data from both the safe house and the presidential office is typically overwritten after three months, the Presidential Security Service retained the footage at the police’s formal request made in late December.

Still, the footage can only be used as evidence in the ongoing trial of former Interior Minister Lee. For it to be admitted in proceedings related to former President Yoon, a court must either initiate its own inquiry or issue a separate warrant.

On Friday, prosecutors submitted an opinion to the court urging it to authorize a search warrant for the secure server containing encrypted phone records. A similar motion regarding the security camera footage is likely to follow.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.