Former President Yoon Suk-yeol's records of phone conversations with former National Intelligence Service Vice Administrator Hong Jang-won and former Seoul police chief Kim Bong-sik were remotely deleted following the 12.3 martial law, prompting police to initiate an investigation.
A representative from the Korean National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters martial law special investigation team noted during a regular briefing that they discovered such circumstances while analyzing server records of the currency submitted voluntarily by the National Security Office. While police have begun investigations related to evidence destruction, they have not yet determined specifically who the suspects are.
The day the user information on the currency server was remotely deleted was Dec. 6 of last year, which coincided with the day news reports emerged about former President Yoon's dismissal of Vice Administrator Hong.
Police are conducting forensic work to recover related records. Currently, police have secured 19 devices including the currency and work phones related to the obstruction of arrest charges against former President Yoon.
Previously, police and the National Security Office conducted joint forensics for about three weeks, successfully recovering most of the currency server records, and the National Security Office sorted and voluntarily submitted necessary materials for the investigation to police. The forensic targets are from Dec. 3 of last year, the day of the martial law declaration, to Jan. 22 of this year. Records on the currency server are automatically deleted every two days, necessitating forensic work.
Additionally, police plan to further voluntarily collect currency server records from the National Security Office related to the investigation of insurrection charges starting March 1 of last year. The forensic work has been completed.