Woo Jong-su, Deputy Minister of the Korean National Police Agency and head of the martial law special investigation team, said on the 23rd that he "cannot understand" why the prosecution seized his mobile phone. Previously, the prosecution's special investigation headquarters for martial law seized Woo's mobile phone on the 19th due to suspicions that the police supported an arrest team on the day of martial law.
Deputy Minister Woo appeared at the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee's plenary session in Yeouido, Seoul, and responded in this way after being asked by Rep. Yoon Kun-young of the Democratic Party of Korea, "The seizure of the mobile phones of ten police executives by the prosecution can only be seen as an obstruction of the investigation." Regarding the situation at the time, he noted, "The period or content of the electronic information to be extracted from the mobile phone was not specifically identified, and I did not receive a copy of the warrant because I was considered a reference person," adding that it was "an unusual case."
Rep. Yoon criticized the prosecution for 'hijacking the investigation,' citing the arrest of former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun and the search and seizure of the Defense Security Command. Deputy Minister Woo said, "An arrest warrant for former Minister Kim was issued on the 7th and was scheduled to be executed the next day, but former Minister Kim voluntarily appeared at the prosecution a few hours earlier. There were difficulties in the initial investigation."
Regarding the request from the Defense Security Command for the dispatch of investigators, Deputy Minister Woo said, "I received the report after the action had already been taken; at the time, I was on a business trip to Jeju Island, and I first received the report via call from the Director General of the Investigation Planning Bureau around 12:38 a.m. on the 4th." He stated that he received a report call from Yoon Seung-young, the National Police Agency's Investigation Planning and Coordination Director (Director General), around 12:40 a.m., two hours after the martial law announcement on the 4th, about "a request for a cooperation list of 100 investigators from the Defense Security Command on the day of martial law," and instructed, "Do not respond until the morning."
Deputy Minister Woo also disclosed text content shared with Cho Ji-ho, the Administrator of the Korean National Police Agency, around 11:15 p.m. on the 3rd, about 50 minutes after the declaration of martial law. When Woo stated, "I am staying in Jeju to attend the Jeju Police Agency meeting but will cancel all schedules and return on the first flight (at 6:55 a.m) tomorrow," Commissioner Cho replied, "Understood."
Deputy Minister Woo also said, "We attempted to conduct a search and seizure of the presidential office twice, but it was not carried out as the Presidential Security Service did not comply," adding that "we have sent an official letter requesting the preservation of important materials." Regarding the martial law proclamation process, he said that there were "procedural flaws legally."