The head of the investigation unit of the Army's Defense Security Command testified that while a list of 14 names to secure New Recruits was written under the direction of former Commander Ye, he did not order his subordinates to arrest them.
On the 5th, the 25th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court, led by Chief Judge Jee Gwi-yeon, held a trial regarding the charges of conspiracy to insurrection against police leadership including Chief of the Korean National Police Agency Jo Ji-ho and former Chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Kim Bong-sik. On this day, witness examination was conducted for former investigation unit head Kim Dae-woo (Brigadier General) of the Defense Security Command.
Brigadier General Kim ordered Defense Security Command officials to deploy to the National Assembly under the direction of the female commander around 12 a.m. on December 3 of last year when the martial law was declared.
Brigadier General Kim stated that shortly after the declaration of martial law, around 10:45 p.m. on the 3rd, he heard from the female commander that she had requested '100 from the Investigation Headquarters of the Ministry of National Defense and 100 police investigators in advance.'
He testified that the female commander instructed him to write down the names of 14 individuals, including Lee Jae-myung and Han Dong-hoon. Although Brigadier General Kim asked her about the allegations, she replied, 'I do not know about the allegations.'
In response to a question from the prosecution about whether the female commander used the term 'arrest,' he said, 'She told me to catch and transport them, and I understood it as a nuance of arresting and transporting them,' adding, 'I took that list to mean they were martial law criminals.'
However, when the prosecution asked, 'When you heard from the female commander to have the 14 individuals transported to the Capital Defense Command B1 bunker, who did you think would be responsible for the arrests?' he replied, 'I thought the police investigation unit would come and conduct an investigation.'
Brigadier General Kim explained that while deploying Defense Security Command investigators to the National Assembly, he told them, 'Our mission is not to arrest directly but to coordinate with either the Special Forces or police, and to receive the personnel from them to hand over to the Capital Defense Command.'
Brigadier General Kim refuted regarding the Kakao message sent to the Defense Security Command personnel moving to the National Assembly early on December 4 last year.
In a previous trial, Major Choi Seok-il, who oversees the investigation unit, disclosed a message he organized, which Director General Kim instructed to be posted in the Kakao chat room for heads of the Defense Security Command team and above.
The message included: 'Cancellation of all previously assigned detained individuals. All teams should first arrest and transport to the detention facility (Capital Defense Command) the individuals they see among Woo Won-sik, Lee Jae-myung, and Han Dong-hoon.'
The director general responded to this, saying, 'The term arrest was familiar to him (Major Choi), though he did not give direct instructions to use that term.'
When the lawyer asked, 'Did the essence of the Kakao message indicate that the previously detained individuals were no longer needed and only these three should be transported, but through operational units rather than directly?' he answered, 'Yes.'
After the witness examination of former Director General Kim, an examination was conducted of Sergeant Kim, who worked as an investigation manager at the Defense Ministry's Investigation Headquarters at that time.
Sergeant Kim testified about the situation in which he was requested by the Defense Security Command for 100 investigators and prepared the list of investigators from the Ministry of National Defense.