The second consolidated special counsel said it asked Minister Jung Sung-ho of the Ministry of Justice to open disciplinary proceedings, saying Acting Prosecutor General Gu Jahyeon and others refused to cooperate with the investigation into the Dec. 3 martial law.
The consolidated special counsel said in a media notice on the 30th, "We requested the Minister of the Ministry of Justice to open disciplinary proceedings against the acting prosecutor general and the head of inspection at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, who are obstructing the investigation."
The reason, it said, is that while the consolidated special counsel was conducting an investigation into the Dec. 3 martial law and requested the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to submit related materials and otherwise cooperate, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office refused.
An official from the special counsel team explained, "On Mar. 25, we asked for the transmission of investigation materials from the Prosecution Service's task force for respecting the Constitution and government innovation (TF), but on the 28th, they sent a reply saying the materials are non-disclosable under the relevant regulations and refused to provide them."
The so-called "insurrection TF," formally the "TF for respecting the Constitution and government innovation," was an organization set up at 49 government agencies including the Prosecution Service to question civil servants on whether they participated in or cooperated with the Dec. 3 martial law. The TF's Director General was Acting Prosecutor General Gu, and the deputy director general was Kim Seong-dong, head of inspection at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.
The consolidated special counsel said, "The Supreme Prosecutors' Office must comply with the request for investigative cooperation under Article 6, Paragraph 6 of the consolidated special counsel act," and added, "Because the refusal to cooperate (with the request) seriously hinders the consolidated special counsel's investigation, we requested the Minister of the Ministry of Justice to open disciplinary proceedings under the law."
According to the second consolidated special counsel act, the special counsel may, limited to the subjects of investigation defined by the act, request the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), the Korean National Police Agency, and others to submit investigation records and evidence related to the cases. If the head of a relevant agency receiving the request does not comply, the special counsel may ask the authority empowered to request a disciplinary resolution to open disciplinary proceedings.