Kim Hyun-tae referred to prosecutors over defamation of Cheong Wa Dae deputy spokesperson

Kim Hyun-tae, the former commander of the Army Special Warfare Command's 707th Special Mission Battalion, has been referred to prosecutors for allegedly defaming An Gwi-ryeong, a Cheong Wa Dae deputy spokesperson who grabbed the barrel of a rifle held by an armed martial law soldier entering the National Assembly during the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration.

Seoul's Seocho Police Station said Friday it had forwarded Kim to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office without detention on charges of defamation through the spread of false information.

Kim faces defamation charges after testifying as a witness at a Seoul Central District Court trial on insurrection charges last year, where he claimed that An's act of grabbing a martial law soldier's rifle to block the troops had been staged.

The moment in question shows An standing in front of the main building of the National Assembly, shouting at the martial law troops, "Aren't you ashamed?" while seizing the barrel of a soldier's rifle. The scene was selected by the BBC as one of its 12 most striking images of 2024.

Testifying at the trial of former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and others on Dec. 9 last year, Kim said An "suddenly appeared and tried to seize the firearm," adding that "the restraint was carried out using a critical technique that only a professional would know."

Kim went on to say that "An brought large-bodied bodyguards and, according to a unit member who witnessed it, she was seen having her makeup done just before filming began," and claimed that "unit members felt deeply aggrieved because it was an attempt to seize a firearm in what was a staged scene."

An's side filed a complaint against Kim with the Seocho Police Station last December, saying that "she did nothing more than instinctively resist and defend herself in an urgent situation where martial law troops were threatening her with a rifle barrel, yet those who carried out and abetted the insurrection are trying to brand a resisting citizen as a criminal in order to evade responsibility."

Police reviewed footage from the National Assembly and analyzed An's movements, concluding that the charges against Kim were substantiated.

During the police investigation, Kim told investigators he had simply repeated what a unit member told him without verifying it, and had not realized the statements were false.