hankyoreh

On July 11

On July 11, South Korea’s Defense Ministry appointed the head of the special team charged with investigating a document reviewing a martial law decree that was composed by the military’s Defense Security Command (DSC), and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office assigned the case to its 2nd public security department, suggesting that the full investigation is about to begin.

The military team of investigators and the prosecutors are expected to focus their efforts on determining why, for what purpose and by whom the martial law document was composed, as well as how high up the chain of command the document went. This makes it inevitable that the military’s top brass – those at the top of that chain of command – will be investigated as well.

The first person likely to be investigated is former Defense Minister Han Min-goo. In Mar. 2017, when the DSC martial law document was being drafted, Han oversaw the DSC, which reports directly to the Defense Ministry. Investigators will have to look into the possibility that the DSC document – which reviewed the option of issuing a garrison decree and a martial law decree – was composed on orders from Han.

Han Min-goo was tight-lipped during a recent telephone call with The Hankyoreh: “If this investigation goes ahead, I’ll tell them everything. I have nothing to say for now.”

But Han’s associates have reportedly explained that the document represented an internal review of the legal conditions and procedures for a garrison decree and a martial law decree in order to respond to questions posed by Rep. Lee Cheol-hui, then a lawmaker for the Democratic Party, about abolishing garrison decrees. And in fact, Lee did ask the Ministry of National Defense (MND) questions about abolishing garrison decrees about three or four times in late 2016 and early 2017.

But Lee said, “I only asked about whether garrison decrees would be abolished and never asked about martial law decrees. The DSC document reviewed the idea of issuing a martial law decree and also argued that the president should veto any bill abolishing garrison decrees that passed the National Assembly. Their explanation doesn’t make any sense.”

It also appears that Kim Kwan-jin, then Blue House National Security Advisor, and Hwang Kyo-ahn, then acting president, will be unable to dodge the investigation. Kim Kwan-jin was not in the direct chain of command that controlled the DSC. But Kim had served as defense minister before Han, and he reportedly handled military matters in the administration of ex-president Park Geun-hye.

Even after Park was stripped of her authority by the National Assembly’s impeachment resolution in early 2017, Kim visited the US two times to push through the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system with US troops in Korea, demonstrating that he was a power broker in the military.

If Kim is targeted by this investigation, it will be his second time facing scrutiny, following accusations that he tried to cover up comments posted by the military’s Cyber Command. Also, considering that Hwang Kyo-ahn was serving as the acting president at the time, he may also have been briefed about the martial law document, which would relate to his responsibility as commander in chief of the army.

The commander of the DSC when the martial law document was being composed was Cho Hyun-chon, a lieutenant general in the reserves. Cho served as DSC commander for three years, from Oct. 2014 until Sept. 2017. Cho was a controversial figure from the time of his appointment, since he was a member of Aljahoe, a private organization inside the army.

Along with Han Min-goo, Cho was positioned to know the most about the reasons for the document’s composition, as well as its use and intention. The Hankyoreh attempted to contact Cho, but his mobile phone was turned off. Cho is reportedly residing in the US, where he traveled at the end of last year to pursue “academic studies.”

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer, and Kim Tae-gyu, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]