The special counsel investigating the insurrection case on the 4th summoned former National Intelligence Service director Cho Tae-yong as a suspect for a third time in connection with the Dec. 3 martial law crisis last year.
Arriving that morning at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office building, where the special counsel's office is located, former director Cho said, "I will faithfully undergo the investigation."
This is the third round of questioning, following the 15th and 17th last month. The special counsel plans to decide whether to seek an arrest warrant as soon as the questioning is completed.
On the day martial law was declared, former director Cho is accused of dereliction of duty for failing to report to the National Assembly even after hearing at the presidential office about former President Yoon Suk-yeol's plan to declare martial law. Article 15 of the National Intelligence Service Act stipulates that when the director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) recognizes a situation that has a significant impact on national security, the director must report without delay to the president and the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee.
The special counsel also suspects that former director Cho violated the ban on political involvement (violation of the National Intelligence Service Act) by providing to the People Power Party alone National Intelligence Service (NIS) CCTV footage showing the movements of former First Deputy Director Hong Jang-won during the period of martial law.
In addition, former director Cho faces suspicions that he ordered or was involved, together with the Defense Counterintelligence Command, in supporting arrest teams during the martial law period, and charges that he gave false testimony to the effect that he had not received any martial law-related instructions or documents in the National Assembly or in the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial of former President Yoon.