The second special prosecutor team, led by Kwon Chang-young, has completed its investigation and is set to begin indictments next month.
According to legal sources on August 29, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 38-3, presided over by judges Choi Young-gak, Jang Sung-jin, and Jeong Soo-young, will hold the first pre-trial hearing on September 30 for former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung and former Chief of the Planning and Coordination Bureau at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Jeon Mu-gon, who are charged with insurrection-related offenses.
The pre-trial hearing is a procedure to organize the positions of the defendants and the special prosecutor's office before the main trial begins, and attendance by the defendants is not mandatory.
Shim is accused of participating in insurrection by considering sending prosecutors to the joint investigation team of the Martial Law Command under the direction of former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae during the emergency martial law on December 3.
Jeon is charged with conspiring with Shim to have prosecutors from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office review the jurisdiction and procedures for investigating and prosecuting violators of the martial law proclamation, and for creating documents regarding the jurisdiction of trials under emergency martial law.
On the same day, Criminal Division 38-2, presided over by judges Jeong Soo-young, Choi Young-gak, and Jang Sung-jin, will also hold the first pre-trial hearing for former National Intelligence Service Director Jo Tae-yong, former First Deputy Director Hong Jang-won, former Second Deputy Director Hwang Won-jin, and former Planning and Coordination Director Kim Nam-woo, who are charged with insurrection-related offenses.
Jo is accused of holding a political task force meeting during the emergency martial law and broadly directing the NIS to carry out the martial law, as well as explaining the justification for the martial law to U.S. intelligence agencies.
Hong is charged with establishing contact points with the National Police Agency and the National Intelligence Service regarding counter-espionage related to the martial law and directing personnel to be dispatched to the police situation room.
The first pre-trial hearing for four former officials from the Gyeongbuk Police Agency and presidential office aides indicted in connection with the death of late Marine Sergeant Chae Hae-byeong is also scheduled for next month.
Criminal Division 32, presided over by Judge Ryu Kyung-jin, will hold the first pre-trial hearing on September 10 for former Gyeongbuk Police Chief Choi Joo-won, former Gyeongbuk Police Investigation Division Chief Noh Gyu-ho, and former presidential office officials Lee Si-won and Lim Gi-hoon, who are charged with abuse of authority and leaking official secrets.
Choi and Noh are accused of knowing that the records of the Chae Hae-byeong case were legally transferred to the Gyeongbuk Police Agency and that returning them was illegal and improper, yet they handed the records over to the Ministry of National Defense's prosecution team.
Lee is accused of leaking the search plan to Lim just before the Gyeongbuk Police Agency was set to search the Marine Corps' 1st Division on September 7, 2023. Lim is also charged with leaking this information to officials at the Ministry of National Defense.
The special prosecutor's cases are expected to continue into October. The trial for Colonel Cho Sung-hyun, who instructed his subordinates not to cross the Seogang Bridge during the emergency martial law, will begin in October.
Criminal Division 38-1, presided over by judges Jang Sung-jin, Jeong Soo-young, and Choi Young-gak, will hold the first pre-trial hearing for Cho on October 2, who is charged with insurrection-related offenses.
Previously, the insurrection special investigation team, led by Special Prosecutor Jo Eun-seok, had decided not to pursue charges against Cho, believing he contributed to the early termination of the martial law by halting his subordinate units moving toward the National Assembly. However, the comprehensive special prosecutor's office determined that Cho's actions, based on the initial directive from former Capital Defense Command Commander Lee Jin-woo to 'remove the National Assembly members,' constituted grounds for insurrection charges.
Meanwhile, the comprehensive special prosecutor's office concluded its investigation on August 23, indicting 58 individuals, including former President Yoon and Kim Geon-hee.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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