Police investigating the 2024 attack on President Lee Jae-myung have referred former prosecutor Kim Sang-min, who was then a special adviser at the National Intelligence Service, to prosecutors. Kim is accused of drafting a legal review report that contained false information.
On the 16th, the Korean National Police Agency's "Gadeokdo terror case investigation task force (TF)" said it referred three then–National Intelligence Service (NIS) officials, including former prosecutor Kim, on the 3rd on charges including falsifying official documents.
Kim, who served as a special adviser at the National Intelligence Service (NIS) last year, is known to have downplayed the 18-centimeter modified blade used in the attack as a "box cutter" while reviewing whether the case constituted terrorism under the Counterterrorism Act.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS), based on this report, concluded that the Gadeokdo attack did not constitute terrorism and notified the responsible ministries.
Police determined that despite recognizing the actual form of the weapon, Kim recorded information that differed from the facts. The view is that this effectively steered the conclusion toward finding the attack was not terrorism.
A TF official said, "We did not apply the falsifying official documents charge simply because a legal opinion was given that it was 'not terrorism,'" adding, "We took issue with the distortion of facts to fit a predetermined conclusion, rather than reaching a conclusion through a reasonable logical structure."
The other two National Intelligence Service (NIS) officials are also suspected of drafting a joint investigation result report on the day of the incident even though the Busan-area military–police joint counterterrorism investigation team had not reached any findings.
In effect, a false report was drafted to make it appear there were joint investigation results despite no agreed conclusion among the relevant agencies, and based on this, it was determined that follow-up measures such as reactivating the joint investigation team until Kim's final verdict were not carried out.
Police newly confirmed one additional attempt by the terrorist, a person surnamed Kim. With this, the number of attempts attributed by police to Kim increased from five to six.
With this additional referral, the TF's investigation has effectively wrapped up, and the TF is set to be disbanded after some procedural work. Earlier, from January, the TF conducted eight search-and-seizure operations and 235 interviews, including with reference witnesses, over about six months.