Special prosecutor indicts ex-Capital Defense Command brigade chief over Dec. 3 martial law

The second special prosecutor team led by Kwon Chang-young has booked Cho Seong-hyeon, the former commander of the 1st Security Brigade under the Army's Capital Defense Command, on charges of performing an important role in insurrection, legal sources said Saturday.

Cho — who held the rank of colonel — is suspected of relaying an order from former Capital Defense Command chief Lee Jin-woo to deploy troops to the National Assembly during the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration, according to legal sources. The order was passed down to the 2nd and 35th Special Mission Battalions under his command.

The special prosecutor team obtained evidence that Cho, acting on Lee's directive to "drag out lawmakers," told units waiting at Seogang Bridge on the night of the martial law declaration: "Leave your firearms and blank rounds in the vehicles, take your batons and move in. Your mission is to remove people from inside the National Assembly."

The team believes the insurrection charges are established by the mere fact that Cho relayed the initial order to remove Assembly members. Around 1 a.m. the following day, however, Cho issued a countermanding instruction telling his troops to "stand by at Seogang Bridge." Investigators interpreted the move as an effort to prevent casualties from clashes between soldiers and civilians gathered around the Assembly. The special prosecutor team plans to summon Cho for direct questioning early next month.

Cho testified on multiple occasions during the investigations and impeachment proceedings that followed the emergency martial law declaration.

Testifying before the Constitutional Court, he said that while he had received an order to enter the National Assembly and remove lawmakers, he pushed back and instructed subsequent units not to cross Seogang Bridge but to stand by.

The Ministry of National Defense awarded Cho the Bogukhunjang Samiljang — a state merit decoration — last September, citing his refusal to follow illegal and unjust orders from the outset of the martial law declaration and his contribution to preventing national chaos by avoiding confrontation with civilians. President Lee Jae Myung also visited the ministry's command and control room in March to personally commend Cho.