Attorney Yoon Gap-geun, representing President Yoon Suk-yeol, questioned former National Intelligence Service Vice Administrator Hong Jang-won on the 20th during the impeachment trial of President Yoon, asking, "Isn't the aide who dictated the arrest list memo a friend of former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon, who graduated from Hyundai High School?" In response, Hong noted, "I do not remember who the aide's friend is."
On this day, former Vice Administrator Hong appeared as a witness at the 10th hearing of President Yoon's impeachment trial. Hong was summoned as a witness following a request from the National Assembly's representative team on the 4th. This time, the side of President Yoon requested him to testify.
Previously, former Vice Administrator Hong revealed during the prosecutor's investigation that on the afternoon of the day of the state of emergency, at 11:06 p.m., former Counter-Intelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung read out the list of arrest targets, and he made a memo of it. He also mentioned that he hastily jotted down this memo and then instructed an aide to rewrite it.
However, National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong appeared as a witness in the impeachment trial of President Yoon on the 13th and stated, "The memos are not just the two written by former Vice Administrator Hong and the aide, but a total of four." He detailed that the four include the original written by Hong, one dictated by the aide, one that Hong instructed the aide to write again, and one that someone had annotated.
On that day, former Vice Administrator Hong brought out the initial memo that he claimed to have written directly in the impeachment trial. Regarding this memo, attorney Yoon Gap-geun asked Hong, "Who is the aide that dictated it?" To this, Hong responded, "An employee currently working at the National Intelligence Service."
Yoon then asked, "Isn't the aide you mentioned a friend of former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon, who graduated from Hyundai High School?" In response, Hong said, "I do not remember who the aide's friend is."
Meanwhile, former leader Han reportedly wrote in his book, "Han Dong-hoon's Choice—The People Come First," which began pre-sales that day, that while heading to Yeouido to lift the state of emergency, he received a warning from a person in a government position: "If you're arrested, you might really die. So, find a hiding place immediately. Make sure to turn off your phone so that you can't be tracked. It would also be good to evacuate your family."