Police summoned Park Hyun-soo, the Administrator of the Seoul Korean National Police Agency, to investigate allegations related to the '12·3 state of emergency situation.'
An official from the National Investigation Headquarters of the Korean National Police Agency noted during a regular press briefing held on the 17th that "on the 15th, Administrator Park was investigated as a witness" and added, "He has not yet been charged as a suspect."
Administrator Park was appointed as the acting Administrator of the Seoul Korean National Police Agency through a personnel change on the 7th. The position of Seoul Administrator is currently vacant due to the previous Administrator, Kim Bong-sik, being indicted on charges of involvement in a coup. The opposition has raised suspicions that Administrator Park is involved in the 12·3 state of emergency situation. This is the second time police have summoned Administrator Park for investigation since last December.
At the time of the state of emergency, Administrator Park, who was then the head of the Police Bureau at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, communicated several times with Lee Sang-min, then the Minister of the Interior and Safety, and Jo Ji-ho, then the head of the Korean National Police Agency, right after the declaration of the emergency. An official from the special investigation team stated, "The investigation was conducted based on call records" and added, "It is difficult to disclose specific details."
On the 14th, the civic group Military Rights Center also filed a complaint against Administrator Park on charges of involvement in a coup and abuse of authority. An official from the special investigation team related to this stated, "We are in the stage of reviewing where to allocate the case" and noted, "The content of the complaint is not significantly different from what was confirmed in the previous witness investigations regarding the allegations of involvement in a coup."