Government revokes 198 state honors tied to Dec. 12 coup, May 18 crackdown, fabricated spy cases

The government has revoked 198 state honors awarded to individuals involved in the Dec. 12 military coup, the suppression of the May 18 pro-democracy uprising, martial law duties and fabricated spy cases.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety said Tuesday that the 31st Cabinet meeting deliberated and approved a proposal to revoke 198 state honors conferred on 167 people.

The revocations cover 76 military merit medals and citations awarded to 76 people involved in the Dec. 12 coup, the May 18 crackdown and martial law duties between 1980 and 1981, as well as 122 orders, citations and prime ministerial commendations awarded to 91 people linked to fabricated spy cases and similar incidents from the 1960s through the 1990s.

To correct state honors given to those implicated in anti-constitutional acts and state violence — including fabricated spy cases — the government reviewed the appropriateness of the honors together with the Ministry of National Defense, the Korean National Police Agency and the National Intelligence Service, then carried out administrative procedures including advance notification to the individuals concerned and convening a merit review committee.

Of the revoked honors, 76 fall under the Defense Ministry's jurisdiction, 36 under the police agency's and 86 under the NIS's.

Among the honors revoked Tuesday were four awarded to Park Cheo-won (1927–2008), former head of the anti-communist investigation division at the National Police Headquarters and the top official overseeing the Namyeongdong Anti-Communist Investigation Unit — specifically, one Green Stripes Order of Service Merit, one Red Stripes Order of Service Merit and two presidential commendations.

A prime ministerial commendation awarded to Lee Geun-an, known as the "torture technician," who died in March, was also revoked.

The Defense Ministry had previously revoked the Chungmu Military Merit Medal from 10 people who played key roles in the Dec. 12 coup in March, then identified 76 additional individuals who had improperly received military merit medals and citations for actions in 1980 and 1981 and initiated revocation proceedings against them.

Among them, 42 people decorated for "contributions to national security" were found, after a comprehensive review of their service records and anti-infiltration operation logs from the period, to have no merit qualifying as "performance of duties equivalent to combat" — the requirement for a military merit medal — or "dedication and effort in national defense," the requirement for a military merit citation.

The Defense Ministry also determined that the 34 people decorated for "contributions to martial law duties" had received their honors based on false merit under the Awards and Decorations Act.

The ministry said the emergency martial law had been judicially confirmed as an act of insurrection that destroyed the constitutional order, and that duties carried out by the martial law command and its subordinate units constituted assistance to the new military faction's illegal seizure of power and insurrection — and therefore could not be recognized as merit for state honors.

Beginning in March, the Korean National Police Agency conducted a comprehensive review of approximately 100,000 state honors awarded since the agency's founding and identified honors linked to cases in which illegal arrests, abuse and the suppression of pro-democracy activities had been confirmed.

The 36 honors under the police agency's jurisdiction comprise 15 orders, three citations, 12 presidential commendations and six prime ministerial commendations.

The largest share — 29 of the 36 — were tied to the "Nam Min Jeon case," in which more than 80 people were arrested on charges including violations of the National Security Act in 1979. Nam Min Jeon refers to the South Korean National Liberation Front.

Retrials in 2024 and 2025 confirmed the innocence of the defendants in the Nam Min Jeon case after courts recognized illegal detention and abuse.

Also included were two honors related to the Samcheok fixed spy ring case, three tied to the Seoul National University Murim case, and one each connected to the Ham Ju-myeong spy case and the Korea Christian Social Problems Institute case.

The police agency also requested that related agencies revoke 51 ministerial commendations linked to those cases.

The agency is currently proceeding with additional revocations of state honors awarded in connection with anti-constitutional acts, including the suppression of the May 18 pro-democracy uprising and the Samcheong re-education program.

The NIS conducted its own comprehensive review of state honors awarded to its employees since the founding of the Central Intelligence Agency, completing the survey in late March.

A review of retrial rulings, reports by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the NIS's own truth committee, and the merit records of decorated individuals confirmed violations of investigative procedures and human rights abuses in a total of 19 cases — 17 in which retrials resulted in acquittals and two flagged by the two truth bodies.

The NIS asked the Ministry of Interior and Safety to revoke 86 state honors awarded to 71 people in connection with cases including the ethnic Korean residents in Japan spy case, the Boseong family spy ring case and the Jeju mother-and-daughter spy case.

Tuesday's revocations mark the third round this year, following 11 honors — including National Security Merit Medals — in January and 10 military merit medals in March. The Korean National Police Agency and the NIS apologized to the victims and their bereaved families who suffered as a result of past unlawful exercises of state power and human rights abuses.

The government said it would continue to identify and revoke state honors improperly awarded in connection with anti-constitutional acts and fabricated spy cases.