Comprehensive special prosecutor to question ex-Capital Defense commander over 'Guardian TF' martial law preparations

The second comprehensive special prosecutor's office — led by Special Prosecutor Kwon Chang-young and tasked with investigating allegations left unresolved after three earlier special prosecutions into insurrection, Kim Keon Hee and the Marine Corps death case — will question former Capital Defense Command (CDC) commander Lee Jin-woo as a suspect Tuesday over whether a unit known as the "Guardian TF," described as a counterterrorism force within the CDC, was in fact organized to prepare for martial law.

The special prosecutor's team will question Lee, who faces charges of abuse of authority, as a suspect Tuesday. It will be the first time the team has summoned Lee specifically in connection with the Guardian TF. He was previously called in as a suspect on rebellion charges in May.

According to the special prosecutor's team, Lee is suspected of establishing the Guardian TF in February 2024 — ostensibly to respond to terrorist threats in the capital — ahead of the Dec. 3, 2024 emergency martial law declaration, and of ordering a subordinate to mobilize the unit after former President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law.

The team is expected to press Lee on whether the Guardian TF was created for purposes other than facilitating counterterrorism operations. Investigators have already questioned officers from the CDC's military police regiment as witnesses and are said to have confirmed that the Guardian TF did not conform to relevant manuals and regulations.

Under the enforcement decree of the Counterterrorism Act, the Ministry of National Defense's counterterrorism units may conduct deployment and suppression operations only for terrorist incidents occurring within military facilities. An exception allows them to support police counterterrorism operations outside military facilities when urgent assistance is needed due to the limits of police capacity, provided the head of the relevant response headquarters makes the request.

On the night martial law was declared — Dec. 3, 2024 — Lee called Cho Seong-hyeon, then commander of the CDC's 1st Security Regiment, at 9:48 p.m., telling him: "It seems something is happening, so mobilize the Guardian TF and come to the command." The special prosecutor's team suspects the Guardian TF was a martial-law organization, citing among other things its apparent readiness to deploy outside military facilities without a police request or Joint Chiefs of Staff authorization.

Text messages exchanged between former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and Lee before the martial law declaration have also reinforced the team's suspicions. The messages reportedly identified units belonging to the Guardian TF and included language indicating they would "play a role when martial law is declared."

The team is also examining whether Kim was involved in establishing the Guardian TF. However, if investigators cannot confirm the facts within the allotted investigation period, the team is considering referring the matter to the Korean National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters.

Lee has been indicted on charges including participation in insurrection as a key operative, along with former Army Chief of Staff Park An-su — who also served as martial law commander — former Defense Counterintelligence Command chief Yeo In-hyeong, former Army Special Warfare Command chief Kwak Jong-geun and former Defense Intelligence Command chief Moon Sang-ho.

The insurrection special prosecutor's office, led by Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok, has sought 30 years in prison for Lee, 25 years for Park, 30 years for Yeo, and 20 years each for Kwak and Moon. Their first-instance sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 21 before the 26th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Lee Hyeon-gyeong.

The special prosecutor's team, which launched in February, will wrap up its activities on Aug. 23. The team extended its base 90-day mandate twice — by 30 days each time — and secured an additional month through a legislative amendment. Having emphasized a "heavy-tail" strategy of concentrating arrest warrant requests and indictments in the final stretch of the investigation, the team is expected to decide on charges against some 50 individuals before Aug. 23.