The special counsel investigating the insurrection case on the 7th sought an arrest warrant for former National Intelligence Service director Cho Tae-yong in connection with the Dec. 3 martial law crisis last year.
At a regular briefing that day, the special counsel said it had sought an arrest warrant for the former director "on charges including violating the National Intelligence Service Act's ban on political involvement, dereliction of duty, perjury, destruction of evidence, drafting and using false official documents, and violating the Act on Testimony and Appraisal before the National Assembly." It added, "Considering the status and duties of the National Intelligence Service director, the matter is serious, and we judge there is a risk of destruction of evidence." The arrest warrant application is said to be 50 pages long including the cover.
Earlier, the former director appeared before the special counsel as a suspect and was questioned on the 15th and 17th of last month and on the 4th.
The former director is suspected of dereliction of duty for failing to report to the National Assembly after hearing at the presidential office on the day martial law was declared about former President Yoon Suk-yeol's plan to proclaim martial law. Article 15 of the National Intelligence Service Act stipulates that when the National Intelligence Service director becomes aware of a situation that has a significant impact on national security, the director must report without delay to the president and the Intelligence Committee of the National Assembly.
The special counsel also suspects that the former director violated the duty to refrain from political involvement (a violation of the National Intelligence Service Act) by providing only the People Power Party with National Intelligence Service CCTV footage showing the movements of former first deputy director Hong Jang-won during the period of martial law.
In addition, the former director faces suspicion of ordering or being involved in supporting arrest teams together with the Defense Counterintelligence Command during martial law, and of giving false testimony to the effect that no instructions or documents related to martial law had been received in the National Assembly and in the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial of former President Yoon.