The special counsel team led by Jo Eun-seok, investigating the 'Dec. 3 emergency martial law' case, has notified former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min to appear as a suspect on the 25th. The allegations include instructions for power and water outages against media companies and perjury, and there is also a review of charges related to important tasks for insurrection.
According to legal circles on the 22nd, the special counsel launched a full-scale investigation by searching the former Minister's home, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and the Fire Chief's office on the 17th.
Former Minister Lee is under suspicion of instructing the Fire Agency to execute power and water outages for certain media companies, including MBC, JTBC, Hankyoreh, and Kyunghyang Shinmun, on the orders of former President Yoon Suk-yeol on Dec. 3 last year. The special counsel team secured evidence that includes documents containing the contents of former President Yoon's instructions and phone records indicating that the former Minister conveyed these instructions to then-Fire Chief Heo Seok-gon.
Additionally, it has been reported that the special counsel has secured footage from the closed-circuit video at the presidential office showing the former Minister speaking with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo while holding related documents.
However, the former Minister denied the allegations, stating during the constitutional court impeachment trial, "I have seen a piece of paper from a distance in the presidential office, but I have never seen the document with the details of the power and water outages clearly."
The special counsel is also reviewing the application of charges related to insurrection based on evidence of attempts to execute martial law-related instructions, along with allegations of perjury.